His Shadow
by TheMediator052
Summary: Who is Sombra? To the system, she's nobody. She doesn't exist. To Rory, she's his old best friend. She got caught looking into a conspiracy and had to erase every trace of herself from the internet. But when 'Sombra' took down LumeriCo, Rory knew who she was. His Sombra. His Shadow. (Rating may go up. Story will contain possibly triggering themes.)
1. Chapter 1

Hey, everyone! I'm Ravenclaw'sHeir2020, and I decided to try my hand at an Overwatch story! Nothing too huge, but I figured it might help me in my writing slump I've been in lately :P. So before I start this out I want everyone to know that this story will have some dark themes, either them happening or them being discussed or a flashback to them happening. Ranging from physical, mental, and sexual abuse, to self-harm, to suicidal thoughts or actions. I'll put warnings in bold or italics for when there are chapters with these themes. I'll also put them before and after the discussions or flashbacks or events.

Also don't take the abusive actions as how I think humans should be treated. I think all of us are human and should be treated equally and with respect.

* * *

LET THE FANFICTION-ING BEGIN!

A young boy ran down the streets of Dorado, young woman hot on his heels. She held her arms out and snatched him off the ground and held him close to her.

"Alex!" he whined as she gave him a noogie. "Stoooop!"

Alex, the boy's aunt laughed and set him down, fixing his hair for him. "I gotta hand it to ya, kiddo, you're a lot faster than you were when I last saw you. I missed this."

The boy grinned widely, "I missed it too, Alex!"

The boy was visiting his aunt in Dorado with his mother. His aunt decided to show her nephew around the city before the three traveled back home to in order to escape from the oncoming Omnic forces. They would leave in a week's time.

His mother had run to the market to get something for dinner while Cassie showed him around.

Suddenly a loud CLANG! was heard by the two and the boy quickly grabbed his aunt's waist. "Alex…? What was that…?"

"I don't know, sobrino. Stay behind me." She moved forward slowly, the boy staying back but clutching her hand tightly.

Suddenly a man came out of an alley, holding an Omnic citizen by his neck and threw him to the ground.

Alex shoved the boy behind her back as he shrieked. "Shh, it's okay, _sobrino_ , he's not a War Omnic. He can't hurt you."

"But why's that man hitting him! He did nothing wrong!" The boy ran out and stood between the man and the omnic. "Leave him alone!"

"You don't know what you're on about, kid! It's his fault this started! Him and the rest of those walking tin cans!"

The boy looked behind him and say that two of the Omnic's five photoreceptor eyes were broken and the left side of his head had a large dent in it. His gaze hardened as he stood his ground, looking the man in the eyes. "He didn't do anything. He's not a Bastion, he's just a normal Omnic."

The man looked past the boy and at the Omnic he'd begun to beat. The robot sat there pitifully, watching the two with growing fear and anticipation. Sparks flew from exposed wire on his chest. Dirt covered his head and arms. The man looked at the boy again and saw the steely look in the young boys eyes and realized that a small crowd had begun to form. The man looked down at the ground in shame.

"You're right, _chico_ …" He looked at the Omnic. " _Lo siento, amigo. Por favor perdóname…_ " (I'm sorry, friend. Please forgive me.)

" _Te perdono, amigo_ ," (You're forgiven, friend) the Omnic responded, relieved. He looked at the boy who may have just saved his life. " _Gracias, chico._ "

"Uhh…" The boy didn't know ,much Spanish, but he knew that that meant 'thank you.' " _¿Sí?_ "

The Omnic chuckled, as did the man, who walked over and helped the Omnic up. "What's your name, kid?"

The boy looked to his aunt questioningly. She looked at the man calculatingly before nodding to the boy. "I'm Rory, sir."

The man looked over to Alex. "This boy yours, Al?"

"My sister's," she responded.

"Well, pleased to make your acquaintance, Rory."

"You too. Mister," the boy said with a bright smile. He then looked to the Omnic in concern. "Will you be okay?"

The man repeated the question to the Omnic who responded with a simple, " _Sí, chico._ "

"Er… _bíen_ …"

The two walked off and the crowd dissipated slowly, many giving the boy awed looks on their way away from the scene. His aunt walked up slowly and crouched down, smiling up to the boy. "Ya know, I don't know how you hold such a big heart in that tiny little nine-year-old body, Rory."

"What do you mean?"

"You could've just sat by and let that man hurt that Omnic, but you saw that he was innocent and protected him. Maybe when you're older you can protect people like those heroes in the holovids you love to watch, hm?" She put her hand on his chest, indicating the Green Lantern logo on his shirt.

Rory looked down at the logo and thought about all of the ways the Marvel and DC heroes protected innocent people from the bad guys. Recently DC had even introduced a storyline featuring an Omnic Green Lantern fighting the War Omnics such as Bastions.

"He didn't deserve it."

Alex smiled warmly at him. "And you recognized that and couldn't stand by and watch. That's what I mean when I say you have a big heart."

Rory pondered that for a moment. "Huh. Okay," he replied with a bright smile.

Alex laughed at the simple response. "Big heart, little brain," she said, grabbing him and giving him another noogie.

A young girl walked over and laughed at the sight. " _Hola_ , Ally!" she said brightly between giggles.

Alex let go of Rory and smiled at the girl, " _Hola, Sombra._ "

Rory looked up at his aunt curiously before looking at the girl. "Is that actually your name? Sombra?"

The girl giggled. "No, Ally just calls me that."

"Why?"

"' _Sombra_ ' means 'shadow'," his aunt told him. "She's a very quiet girl and is always trying to hide away. Unless I'm around, then it's just talk, talk, talk," she teased. "She thinks it works but no amount of hiding can prevent people from noticing such a beautiful girl."

The girl blushed and smiled. "Gracias, Ally." She turned to Rory. "You can call me _Sombra_ , too, if you want."

Rory smiled. "Okay, _Sombra_!"

The girl smiled before blushing and looking embarrassed. "Um… who is this, Ally?"

"This is my nephew, Rory," his aunt told her.

The girl held out her hand, which the boy took and shook. "It's nice to meet you, Rory!"

"And you, too, _Sombra_!"

 **-Line Break-**

It had been five days since then and Rory and Sombra became fast friends. Sombra's parents were very kind and were generous enough to invite Rory, Alex, and Rory's mother, Lena, over for dinner that night. The four adults sat in the living room as the kids were upstairs talking about Marvel and DC.

Sombra had also shown him her skill with technology and showed him her hacking equipment that she was working on. Her father was a White Hat Hacker and she wanted to help him do his job. The tech was far beyond anything that hackers used, and Sombra revealed her intentions to be a White Hat Hacker like her father. And she was good, no doubt about.

"She may even be better than I am, and I'm their number one hacker," her father, Jaime, told Lena. "What is Rory looking to do?"

Lena and Alex looked at each other, smiling. "He wants to grow up and join Overwatch. Most kids do nowadays though, don't they? He has a big heart and wants to help people, and he loves those superhero holovids, so joining Overwatch is his aim."

Sombra's parents smiled. "Do you think he could do it?" her mother, Maria, asked.

"I honestly don't know. He has the heart for it, but I don't know if he could take the pain of losing a teammate and friend in battle like that. When he's set on doing something, it's hard to change his mind. And just a few days ago he showed that he's willing to put himself in harm's way to protect the innocent, Omnic and human alike."

Alex chuckled. "I'm, assuming Sombra told you about what happened?"

Jaime chuckled. "Unfortunate that we couldn't have been there."

Lena laughed as well. "I wasn't either. To think I missed my son being the hero he dreams of becoming."

Sombra ran into the room with Rory hot on her heels.

" _¡Mamá! ¡Ayúdenme!_ (Help!) That Bastion is chasing me!"

"Beep boop beep boop," Rory said, trying not to laugh. "Buh buh do bah do bah!"

The adults and children laughed at the two's game. "Look out, an entire legion of them is coming!" Alex exclaimed, grabbing Sombra and running around the room, Rory and Lena chasing after them.

Their fun was interrupted by a loud siren going off. The two children looked at the adults in fear, having heard those sirens on the news multiple times when their parents told them to leave the room.

" _¿Mamá?_ That's not what I think it is… is it?"

"Mom…? Alex...?"

The adults all looked at each other in the same look Sombra and Rory saw on each other's faces.

Pure, unadulterated horror and terror.

Jaime grabbed Sombra and Lena grabbed Rory, Maria and Alex hot on their heels as they ran to the basement. Jaime put Sombra down and spoke in Spanish to Maria and Alex, Sombra listening closely to what he said.

"No, _Papá_! You can't go out there!"

Jaime grimaced and approached his little girl. " _Mija_. (My daughter) My gorgeous _sombra_. I have to make sure other people are safe. That's what I do. But I can't go out there unless I know you're safe."

"Take me with you, _Papá_! _¡Por favor, te quiero tanto!_ " (Please, I love you so much!)

" _Te quiero tanto, Mija. Eres mi sol, mi vida, mi cielo._ "

" _¡NO, PAPÁ!_ " Maria grabbed Sombra and held onto her as Jaime ran outside to go be a hero.

That was the last time mother and daughter would see their husband and father alive. His funeral was closed casket. The Bastion turrets tore through him like tissue paper. No one could have identified him if not for the wallet in his pocket. Sombra had one last picture to remember him by at the end of the Omnic Crisis: A bloody picture of the three of them sitting on the beach, dated May 5th. A flash forward in time would show Rory, Sombra, and Alex in a church for the funeral.

The five sat in silence for a long while They entered the basement at 7:53 PM, and it was now 3:27 AM. Maria was holding her hands over Sombra's ears while Lena did the same for Rory to try and drown out the gunfire and screams.

Years later those screams would still haunt the dreams of the two children.

Maria took her hand from Sombra's ears when the gunfire had died down. "Sombra, I'll be back soon, okay, _Mija_? I'm going to see if it's safe for us to leave."

"Where's _Papá_?"

"He's probably hiding with another family. I'm sure he's safe." Maria didn't believe that for a minute. He promised he'd make his way back or die trying. It had likely been the latter.

And she was right. What she wouldn't have given in that moment to be wrong, but she was right.

Maria gave a Alex a look. The two had studied sign language to be able to speak to a deaf member of their community. Maria used that skill to sign to Alex. " _If I don't come back, take care of my daughter._ "

Alex simply nodded and signed. " _Of course. Be careful, my friend._ "

" _This may be goodbye, but I pray it isn't._ "

" _So do I._ "

" _Te quiero tanto, Mija. Eres mi sol, mi vida, mi cielo,_ " she told her daughter.

" _Te quiero tanto, Mamá._ "

The woman left the basement. Again, the daughter would lose a parent. The poor child lost both her parents in the same night. No one would ever discover, but they were slaughtered by the exact same Bastion unit.

Fate was cruel to that poor girl that night. A flash forward would show a second casket, also closed. The significance of that picture left in her father's pocket grew in the moment that Maria stepped foot out of that basement.

But at least the poor girl didn't lose her mother by having her bleed out in her arms. Unlike the poor boy who sat beside Sombra trying to cheer her up and tell her that everything would be okay. He was deluded enough to believe that all six would survive the night.

That poor, foolish boy…

The four sat for another few hours. 5:54 AM. Rory was the only one who held out hope of Maria or Jaime returning. Sombra knew it wouldn't be likely. Alex told Lena what Maria asked of her, and Alex had a new steely determination to protect the little sombra.

Lena and Alex stood. "You two stay here. We'll be back. Don't come up until we've come to get you."

"Please come back. Don't end up like _Mamá_ and _Papá_."

"They'll come back with your mom and dad, Sombra. Right, Mom?"

Lena looked at Rory sadly. "We'll try."

"See?" Rory said trying to cheer his friend up. Although he too was losing hope for their survival.

The two sat alone for what felt like hours. And indeed it was.

7:53 AM. Twelve hours in that cursed basement.

Sombra had laid down with her head in Rory's lap and cried to herself before falling asleep. Rory did his best to stay awake and keep watch over her.

He looked down at the girl and really looked at her. He may have only been nine, almost ten, but he could see a gorgeous young girl in his lap. He knew she'd grow to be beautiful when she was older. He stroked her hair to try and calm her as she tossed and turned in his lap.

He was about to start dozing off when hurried footsteps pounded on the stairs. Not mechanical he realized and lightly shook Sombra as Alex reached them, bloody and dusty, but majorly unscathed.

"... Alex…?" Sombra asked blearily.

"Where's Mom?" Rory asked.

Alex grabbed the hands of the children and rushed up the stairs and out of the house. Blood, rubble, dust, and beaten Bastions covered the streets of Dorado. Omnics and humans alike cried in each other's arms over lost loved ones, cleaned the streets up and tried to clear rubble, and searched for any and all survivors.

Alex ran by them all and led the children to an alleyway where a woman sat against the wall, dirty, beaten, and bloody. A particularly nasty gash had blood oozing from her head.

They approached slowly and Rory noticed the metal pole poking out of the woman's stomach. Instantly tears welled up in his eyes as he fell to his knees beside his mother, clutching her sleeve.

"Mom… p-please… we gotta get you up… w-w-we… we can find a doctor… please… please, Mom…"

"My beautiful boy… my handsome, handsome young man. Your father would be so so proud of you, my baby. You've grown into a respectful, caring young man, and you're only nine…" She laughed dryly before wincing in pain.

"Don't-don't do that. This isn't goodbye… you'll be f-fine, Mom."

"I love you, Rory. My beautiful boy. I love you so much. You move past this okay? You live your life…" She looked at Alex. "You'll look after him, won't you?"

"Of course. I love you, Lena."

"And I love you, Alex." She glanced at Sombra and then addressed Rory again. "You take care of Sombra, okay?"

Rory nodded. "Yes, Mom."

"Sombra?" The girl looked at the woman curiously and sadly. "Take this." She held out her hand with a bloody piece of paper. Dated May 5th. "I'm sorry, sweetie."

Sombra teared up and thanked the woman.

"Rory… I… I love you, baby. So… so much…"

"I love you, too, Mom…"

Lena smiled at him before letting out her last breath, her head going limp. Alex walked over and closed her eyes.

One last flash forward would show the three in a separate church, and open casket showing Lena in a beautiful black dress. Rory cried quietly as Sombra sat beside him, holding his hand tightly, as he did for her in that basement.

 **-Line Break-**

Sombra smirked. "Point, Sombra."

It had been seven years since that fateful night. Both children were now sixteen years old. The three went back to Dorado a few months after the incident to help the rebuilding efforts. Overwatch had ended the Omnic Crisis and were global heroes. Sombra's accent was as thick as ever, and even Rory was sporting quite the accent himself.

Alex was married to a nice man named Pedro. He was respectful and respectable and treated Alex well. She was five months pregnant. She hoped it was a girl and the two agreed that if it was, they'd name her Alejandra. They left Lena for when Rory had a daughter.

The two were inside preparing dinner while Rory and Sombra were playing a video game.

"Oh, come on, you cheated! You goddamn hacker!"

"Language, Rory!" A pause. "FUCKING SON OF A BITCH GODDAMMIT FUCK!"

The teens roared with laughter. "Language, Alex!" Rory shouted.

"Boy, I will come over there and slap your face!" she shouted jokingly.

"No, ya won't!"

"Try me, _chico_!"

He blew a raspberry at her.

"Oh, real mature!"

"NANA NANA NA NA! Ow!"

"Thanks, Sombra!"

"No problem, Al!"

The teens went out to the backyard and Sombra recounted her latest hacking adventures. She had recently discovered that information is power and people were just as easily manipulated as the tech she hacked. She had been noticed and recruited by Los Muertos to hack for them, much to the dismay of Rory.

 _"They're willing to pay handsomely, Rory."_

 _"Alex already makes plenty to take care of the three of us."_

 _"I don't want to be a burden."_

 _"We've been over this, Sombra."_

 _"But think of how this could go in our favor, Rory!"_

 _"Los Muertos have already proved to be a gang that doesn't exactly mind breaking the law."_

 _"What do you think I do when I hack the governments and corporations of the world?"_

 _"At least you aren't gangbanging."_

 _"What?!"_

 _"Not the rape kind, you dingleberry."_

 _"You scared the shit out of me there, Rory."_

 _"Sombra this is a very bad idea…"_

 _"Oh come on, just trust me. Please?"_

 _He had melted as soon as she flashed the puppy-dog eyes._

 _"I'm gonna regret this…"_

 _"Haha! Yes!"_

 _She had hugged him afterwards, and that was when he realized he was sporting a bit of a crush on his Mexican best friend._

 **-Line Break-**

 **Three years later**

"It's a huge conspiracy, Rory! I can't just leave it alone!"

"Sombra, please don't get caught in the middle of this!"

"I have to, Ror. I'm sorry. This needs to be uncovered."

 **-Line Break-**

 **Three months later**

"If this wasn't so serious I'd say I told you so. Because I FUCKING DID!"

"Rory, I…"

"Sombra, goddammit, why didn't you listen…?"

"I… I'm sorry… That's all I can think to say… You know I have to go now…"

"I know… just… I'll help you erase yourself… I…"

"Come with me."

"I can't leave Alex and Alejandra. With Pedro gone, they need me."

"I… I'm sorry, I know… Tell them everything. Tell them I said goodbye."

"I will… _Adios, amiga._ "

" _Eres mi sol, mi vida, mi cielo._ "

"What? I don't know what that means."

"You'll learn eventually. _Adios, amigo._ "

* * *

And there's chapter one done! I hope you guys enjoyed it, because I had fun writing it! Poor Sombra and Rory, huh?

And the Lena thing wasn't a coincidence. Tracer is gonna play a significant role in this story as well, so.

And that Alejandra tease? Yeah, the short will pop up in this story, and Rory will meet 76.

Okay, well that's gonna do it for this one guys! Let me know what you thought! What you liked, what you hated, constructive criticism always welcome!

See you guys in the next one!

~Ravenclaw'sHeir2020


	2. Chapter 2

Hello, guys! I'm back with chapter two of 'His Shadow.'

I wanna give a quick thanks to AwesomeName for the first review on this story. I'm glad you're interested! As well as reviewers GhostFang GF and Kurasu (or zeldaleepalutena).

I also wanna thank rockobrocko, WynterAsiuuki, Syndirr, crescent the eclipse, Bernie2798, Incarnate47, and IjustCantRN for following the story, as well as GhostFang GF, Incarnate17, Wings of a Nevermore Dragon, and IjustCantRN for favoriting! It means a lot to know people enjoyed it!

Anyway, onto the story! This one will have a lot of line breaks, sorry 'bout that!

* * *

Rory, had his hands folded on the table as Alex processed the information. "Let me get this straight: Sombra got involved with Los Muertos because she thought the lower class were being taken advantage of, and you never told me?"

"For starters…"

"And then she found out about some 'Conspiracy' and you didn't tell me?"

"Yeah…"

"And then she got caught by the people running it and had to erase herself… And had to run away… and you've finally decided to tell me when it's too late to help her?"

"That's about all of it…"

"Rory… Why didn't you tell me?"

"I couldn't. There was no changing her mind, Alex… Believe me, I tried…"

His aunt smiled sadly at him. "I'm sorry, _Sobrino_."

"Why? I'm the one in the wrong."

"Because you lost your _Sombra_."

"What?" he asked incredulously. "My Sombra? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, you think I didn't notice the looks you give her when she isn't looking? It's the same way Pedro looked at me, _Sobrino_. I noticed."

Rory felt his face warm up. "How long?"

"Since Alejandra was born. You looked at Alejandra with a look I recognized from every time I looked at you and Lena. You wanted to grow up and have a child of your own. And when you looked at Sombra I knew you imagined that kind of life with her."

His face burned as his blood rushed to his face. "Oh," he said simply.

Alex laughed. "Ror, you're seventeen. You're allowed to have a crush on a pretty girl."

" _La chica es muy bonita…_ "

" _Sí._ "

"And now she's gone…" He remembered what she said before she left. "Alex, _¿Qué significa 'Eres mi sol, mi vida, mi cielo'?_ "

"What?"

"That's one of the last things she said to me before leaving."

"So I was right about that too…" Alex said to herself, smiling brightly. She looked to Rory. "Oh, you'll find out eventually, I'm sure."

"Why can't you just tell me?"

"Where would be the fun in that?"

"Well, it seems to be something good, right?"

"Very good."

"I know ' _eres_ ' is 'you are,' but I am what?"

Alejandra walked into the room. "Hi, Rory!" the toddler giggled out.

Rory's smile brightened and he stood and walked to the girl, picking her up and placing her on his hip. "Hey, Ali! How's my favorite little girl?"

"Good!"

"That's good! Listen, sweetie, Sombra had to go for a while. She got a new job and is gonna be gone for a few years, okay?"

"Why?"

"She got in a little bit of trouble and has to fix a few things, but she told me to tell you she loves you and is gonna miss you a bunch. She also said," he booped her nose lightly, "boop!" he said in a high-pitched voice, making the girl laugh.

"Boop!" she said and repeated the gesture on Rory's nose. "Boop boop boop!"

"Oh, we're starting a Boop War, are we? Well how about we gang up on _Mamá_ , huh?"

"BOOP _MAMÁ_!"

 **-Line Break-**

Sombra winced painfully as she laid on the bed. She was having an Enhancer install her hacking tech into her back and arms, connecting up to her head. Half of her head had been shaved to make room for the Neural Transmitter. A central power module was installed into her spine and the Enhancer was putting the finishing touches to make sure no wires would threaten to puncture her organs.

The artist had finally finished when Sombra was just about to snap at her for making it hurt so badly. The girl stood and looked in the mirror and the woman's handiwork. " _Gracias._ " She got busy getting dressed, trying not to exert herself to badly while pulling her shirt and hoodie on.

"You'll be sore for a while, but you should be able to control your tech within the next twenty-four hours."

Sombra nodded before paying the woman and walking out of the building.

Now she would be able to really find out what this 'Conspiracy' was really about.

She entered an alley and knocked on the door. A man opened the door and greeted her, laughing, but he used her old name. The one she had to get rid of.

"That's not my name, Julio. It's Sombra."

"Ooh, a new pet name, hm?"

She pulled down her hood to reveal her shaved hair, the tech implanted onto her head, and vibrant purple eyes.

"Ah, so now you're a cyborg or something?"

"I got noticed looking into something and had to erase the girl. Sombra's what's left of her."

"Hm. So you're an emo?"

Sombra glared at him. "I can hack your gun to fly between your eyes and shoot your brains out before you can say 'Los Muertos,' _cabrón_. Don't test me."

Julio's eyes filled with terror as he held his hands up in surrender. "Sorry, Sombra."

The young woman smirked. "There you go."

 **-Line Break-**

 **Five Years Later**

It had been three years since the collapse of the Swiss Overwatch HQ and two years since Overwatch shut down and was deemed illegal by the Petras Act.

Sombra was still going strong with her hacking abilities, and someone else had noticed, but they wanted to recruit her skills.

"So I'm supposed to trust some blue-skinned _chica_ and a ghost that want me to hack for them? How much?"

The ghost, Reaper, growled at her. "How about you don't get a shotgun shell unloaded on your face? That good enough payment for you?"

Sombra rolled her eyes and held out her hand, hacking his shotguns and sending one to aim at each of the Talon agents. "I'll ask again, _Señor_ : how much am I getting paid to hack for you terrorist _cabrones_?

The blue woman, Widowmaker, narrowed her eyes. "How much do you want?" she asked coldly with a thick French accent.

"Hmm… at least ten thousand. Per job."

Reaper growled, but Widowmaker gave him a look. "Six thousand," she counter-offered.

"Seven thousand-five hundred and throw in a machine pistol. What do you say, _chica_?"

Widowmaker and Reaper shared a look before Reaper growled again. "Fine."

" _Gracias_ , Gabriel,"she said with a smirk.

The man picked his shotgun out of the air and shot, but Sombra translocated across the room. "Try again."

"Call me that again, and the next round goes into your eye."

"Sure, Reapy."

Reaper growled as he turned, indicating for Widow to follow.

Widow glared at the hacker but simply said, "We'll be in touch, _cherie_."

" _Adios_."

Now to deal with the King Viper, Sombra thought deviously.

 **-Line Break-**

"That has to be her," Rory said, indicating the report on Atlas News about the "collective" known as Sombra hacking LumériCo and releasing emails and files indicating that the CEO, Guillermo Portero, was corrupting the company and government.

"You can't assume everything called Sombra is her, Rory," Alex told him.

" _We received an audio file from someone in the group that we're going to play for you now:_

" _ **This information was given to you by Sombra. The public deserves to know when the higher-ups are stealing their money and filling their own pockets. We all know what happened in Rio. This was only done acting the public interest."**_

Alex's eyes were wide. That was Sombra's voice alright. "I stand corrected."

"I knew it! What'd I tell you? Ha!"

An eight-year-old Alejandra walked into the room. " _Dios mio_ , calm down, Rory."

"Sorry, Ali."

"What's going on?"

"Nothing, sweetie," Alex said quickly.

"Liar."

"Really, Ali, it's nothing you have to worry about," Rory told her. "Not for a while at least."

The girl groaned in frustration. "You treat me like a baby, I'm not!"

"You're only eight, Ally," Rory said mirthfully. "Your rebelliousteen days aren't supposed to have come yet."

"Fine. But I'm not gonna forget this!"

"Oh, I'm sure you won't, Ali, but it's not time to tell you what's going on. We will eventually."

"You'd better."

"We will, Mija. For now, the bakery opens in a couple hours, and I need both of your help."

 **-Line Break-**

 **Five Years Later**

 _ **(As a quick age recap, Sombra and Rory are now 29, and Alejandra is 13)**_

"Ali, I'm serious. I just want you safe. Los Muertos are very active this time of day."

Alejandra slammed the door open. "I'm not a baby anymore, _Mamá_ , stop treating me like one!"

"Listen to me, _Mija_ : get the flour and get back quickly! _No stops_."

"Fine!" The girl walked out the door and gave a quick "I've-had-enough-of-my-mom-babying-me" gesture to Rory.

Alex sat at the table, sighing and putting her face in her hands before putting them on the table. Rory walked over and took her hands in his before sitting down.

"What's going on in that head of yours, _Tía_?"

She sighed. "I worry about Alejandra. Every day, no longer a child and nowhere near grown up. She is at a crossroads. I tell her about the heroes who saved our world time and time again, because I want to give her hope. But I'm afraid that she could be forced to make a choice that will decide the direction of her life."

Rory thought about that for a little while, long enough to start to concern Alex. "Those stories about Overwatch really do help her, you know."

Alex laughed humorlessly. "I'm glad you think so, because I sure don't… I mean… She still talks with those Muertos even after we warn her about them, and… I don't know…"

"Do you think it's time we tell her about Sombra?"

"..."

"I mean think about it: she'll see that they got her in trouble and know not to go near them."

"Or she'll want to be close to them to be like her."

Rory sighed. "Just please think on it. Okya?"

"... Okay…"

"Thank you, _Tía_."

Hours had passed and dark had begun to settle in. And still Alejandra wasn't home.

Rory stood from his seat. "That's it. I'm going looking for her. I'm done sitting here and waiting for her."

He ran out the door and ran out towards the part of town where Los Muertos did their smuggling. The power had gone out in that district so he knew something had to have been going on. Suddenly he heard rapid gunfire. A minigun.

"Ali!" he shouted, heading in that direction. He found the alleyway where the gunfire was and found a man wearing red, white, and blue with a red glowing visor being shot at by Los Muertos. He also saw Ali hiding behind a crate, trying to avoid the gunfire!

"Ali!" he shouted, ducking down and running to her. "Ali, are you hurt?!"

"No, Rory, but I'm scared, _Primo_!"

"It'll be okay, Ali, we'll get out of here!" He looked over to see the visor guy run out from behind cover and fire three rockets at the mun with the minigun, blowing up the truck and sending shrapnel everywhere. Rory shouted before pressing Ali against the wall to minimize the chance she'd get hit. Miraculously, it all missed the two of them.

Rory noticed the giant '76' on the man's jacket. The man's visor let out a holo-display and he suddenly took out all the men on the roof with one shot each.

As all of them fell, one that had been on the ground already tried to crawl away, but 76 grabbed a piece of burning piñata and beat him over the head with it, Ali and Ror watching in awed terror.

Each of his words were punctuated with another blow. "THESE! AREN'T! YOUR! STREETS!" He paused for a brief moment. "ANYMORE!"

Ali shrieked as she slid back away from the men, Rory, grabbing her as he did the same. The man looked up at them his visor glowing menacingly.

"No, please, I-" Ali pleaded, crawling away, with Rory trying to hide her behind him.

A truck drove into the alley as Los Muertos clambered onto it in a rush, 76 rushing after them to try and stop them from escaping. "You don't get off that easy!" he shouted.

One of the men threw an object past 76 and it rolled slowly to Rory's feet before his eyes widened in fear over what it was. Ali saw it too and screamed, attracting 76's attention. He looked between the two and the truck escaping through the alley before running back to the two and grabbing them, covering them as the explosion sent them sliding down the alley.

Rory covered Ali's body to do his best to ensure she survived the blast, even if it had to be at the cost of his own life. Suddenly he felt someone else covering him before he was forced down the alleyway by the blast of the bomb.

They slid to a stop and the figure removed himself from the two painfully, making sure the young man and little girl were okay.

Rory opened his eyes to see that his savior was the visor guy who moments ago he feared would attack him and his cousin.

His cousin. Ali!

He quickly looked over her to make sure she was okay before laughing with relief, kissing her hair and holding her close to him, both of them laughing with the relief of surviving that.

Rory looked at 76 as he stood with his cousin. 76 clutched his side in pain and clutched his fist tightly to try and force the pain away.

Ali looked at the man, confused. "You… you saved us…" She paused to look between her cousin and the man. "Why?"

The man looked at the two, the visor unnerving both of them, causing Ali to gasp in slight fear. He answered in a low, gravelly voice: "Old habits die hard, I guess… Run home kids. It ain't safe out here," he added, throwing Ali's money pouch to Rory.

Ali looked at the man in glee as he turned away, picking up his gun, and walking down the alley. "You're one of those heroes, aren't you?" Ali shouted to him.

76 stopped and turned his head to the side, looking at the two out of the corner of his visor before answering. "Not anymore." He walked away without another word.

Ali smiled. "Well I think you are," she said, knowing that he had to have heard her say that.

Rory smiled at her and pulled her in for another hug. " _Dios mio_ , Alejandra, don't ever go chasing Los Muertos for that bag again! From now on if you lose your money, run home and tell us!"

"Yes, sir!" she said with a laugh.

"Now, c'mon, let's get that flour and head home!"

 **-Line Break-**

The door opened and Rory and Ali rushed inside to the kitchen where Ali threw the flour bag down and hugged her mother, followed quickly by Rory. " _¡Mija! ¡Sobrino!_ I've been worried _sick_!"

"I'm sorry, _Mamá_ , but you won't _believe_ what happened tonight!"

The three sat down and Ali told them what had happened up until when Rory came and then the two both told her what happened with 76.

"Well, thank God you're okay! Thank God for that man, 76!"

"I can't believe that that happened!" Rory said, laughing breathlessly. "I was so afraid we were done for when they threw that grenade!"

"So was I! And remember when 76 shot those rockets at the truck!"

"That was so cool!"

Their stories were interrupted by a breaking news update.

" _Hello, citizens of the world. I'm here tonight to report an attack on Volskaya Industries in Russia._ "

"Don't tell me it was the Omnics…" Alex said worriedly.

" _The attack was an assassination attempt on Katya Volskaya's life. Luckily the attempt was failed, though many guards lost their lives trying to protect her. A report came in claiming that the attack was orchestrated by Talon, a terrorist group from when Overwatch was still around._ "

"Oh man, that's not good…" Rory stated.

"Obviously," Ali said, rolling her eyes.

" _At least two attackers were identified. Reaper, the ghost-like agent that appeared shortly after Overwatch fell, and a new agent that a guard overheard him call 'Sombra.'_ "

Rory's eyes widened as he shared a look with Alex.

"'Sombra'?" Alejandra asked. "As in _Sombra_ Sombra or…?"

"' _It's unknown if this Sombra is related to the group who hacked LumeríCo a few years ago, but for now we are assuming that she is. Unfortunately all security footage from the attack was corrupted or stolen. Whoever did it was a master hacker and left no paper trail for detectives to follow. More updates to follow as they come in._ "

"Is that Sombra?" Alejandra asked again.

Rory looked at his aunt. "Well, I hope you're ready to tell her."

Alex sighed. "Ali, that is our Sombra. We need to talk to you about her for a little bit, explain a few things."

 **-Line Break-**

"So Sombra hacked into governments, found some 'Conspiracy,' got caught looking into it, and had to leave?"

"That pretty much sums it up…" Rory said.

Ali didn't respond for a moment before smiling brightly. "Cool! She's awesome!" Then her face fell as she remembered the news story. "Except now… she's a terrorist…?"

"They have to be paying her a lot for her to do that," Rory said. "She wouldn't just up and go to terrorists and be like, 'LET'S RULE THE WORLD!'"

"You're probably right…" Alex said.

"Wait… I am?"

"Sombra would never disgrace her parents' memory like that. She has a reason for what she's doing."

"True. I didn't even think about that."

"You never think, _primo_ ," Alejandra joked.

"That is also true."

The three laughed for a little bit before Alejandra asked "So how can we help her?"

"We can't for now," Rory said. "I'm sure she has everything under control."

"I hope so…" Alex said worriedly. "For her sake…"

 **-Line Break-**

"Reaps, I've got everything under control," Sombra told the man/wraith.

"No, you obviously don't," he growled. "You were supposed to make sure no one knew about this mission, and now it's all over the damn news!"

"Listen, Gabe-"

"Sombra!" he shouted, spooking her a bit. As angry as he always was, he rarely ever lost his temper around members of Talon.

"Reaper," Sombra addressed, turning serious, "I know what I'm doing. I swear."

"How can I know you aren't lying?"

"Would you believe if I swore on _mi Mamá y Papá_?"

As often as Sombra, Widow, and Reaper butted heads, they were close. They were as close to family as you could be in a terrorist organization. So Reaper knew the weight that that promise carried with it. He tried to formulate a response to that.

"... You'd better," he settled on.

"I do, Gabe."

"Okay…"

The silence after was as close to an apology as Sombra would ever get from Reaper, but she knew not to address it with the mood he was in.

"Now, please," she said, making a shooing motion, "I have stuff to do."

He left without another word.

Sombra sighed deeply and sunk into her chair. " _Dios míos…_ " _I really thought she'd rather keep it quiet than let it go public_ , Sombra thought to herself. _One more thing in the news about me and Talon will decide I've outlived my usefulness. I'm just glad they don't know anything about who I was. Especially anything about him…_

Sombra brought up a screen in front of her and looked at news reports from Dorado to make sure nothing too bad had gone on.

Her eyes widened when she saw that there had been gunfire and explosions in the district where Los Muertos did their work. Apparently a vigilante called Soldier: 76 had attacked them and stopped them.

" _Jesucristo._ "

She then pulled up a picture that she had deleted every trace of except for the single one she had. It was a picture of sixteen year old Sombra and Rory sleeping on the couch. Rory was sitting and had his head tilted back and Sombra was lying down with her head in his lap. Both of them looked so young and peaceful.

She remembered what she said to him before leaving and wondered if he'd ever figured out what it meant. _Eh, he probably didn't care even if he did…_

She sighed and put the picture away, frowning. "I thought I was over this…"

"I'm guessing zat was Rory?"

Sombra turned quickly at the voice and saw Widowmaker leaning on the doorframe. The hacker sputtered for any kind of response, making the assassin chuckle.

"He's handsome, I'll give you zat."

"How'd you get in here?!"

"Reaper left looking as apologetic as I've ever seen him. Wanted to see what happened."

"I…"

"What, you zink I'll go tattle on you for reminiscing on a boy you'll likely never see again?"

Sombra looked down at her lap. "No need to be so blunt about it, Widow…"

"Sorry, _cherie_."

"Or at least you would be if you could actually feel anything," Sombra grumbled, not meaning for it to be as rude as it was.

The assassin looked down at her hands. "Yes… Yes, I would if I could…"

Sombra looked at the woman sadly. "I'm sorry, Widow… I didn't mean that to be so rude."

"Don't worry about it. I can't feel sadness or hurt either, so it's fine."

"Still sorry though."

"Don't be."

"But I'm gonna be, so ha."

Sombra laughed as Widowmaker chuckled, a show of feeling reserved for only when she was alone or with Sombra. Sombra was the only one who understood Widowmaker and knew how to deal with her. How she was able to do that neither of them knew, but they both were glad for it.

"But that was Rory, correct?"

"Yeah… I wonder how he's doing lately…"

"As I said before, he's handsome. I wouldn't mind catching him in my web," she finished, smirking at Sombra.

"Whatever, Widow."

"You were also very beautiful. Still are, Sombra."

The hacker smiled wistfully. "There was a time when only he, his aunt, and his cousin were allowed to call me by that name… Now it's all people call me…"

"Ah, so it was sort of a pet name?"

"I mean I guess."

"And it held sentimental value for you, so you chose to keep it as a reminder of them."

" _Sí._ "

"Mm. Zat was smart. But now with your name all over the news, they likely know you're a 'terrorist _cabrón_.'"

Sombra groaned. "Don't remind me, Widow."

"I mean it was fine when you exposed the King Viper, but now?"

"I knooooowww." Sombra leaned forward and rested her elbows on her thighs, burying her face in her hands.

"Look on the bright side."

"What bright side?"

"Now you're unofficially an official Talon agent."

"That's not a bright side."

"I know," Widow said cheekily. " _Au revoir._ " The assassin left Sombra alone in her room.

" _Jesucristo_ … I really messed up…"

* * *

That's gonna do it for this chapter, guys! Sorry about the pretty awkward cutoff, but I was worried if I wrote more I'd have put too much in this for one chapter or I'd have not gotten this chapter out before Tuesday, which is my first day of school.

So yeah, school starting means I'll have a lot less time to write and updates will be very, very infrequent and sporadic. I wish I had more time to, but I know I won't. I'll be surprised if I can get a chapter out before I have too much work to do to be able to write at all.

Well, anyway, thanks for reading, guys! Any and all feedback is welcome! Byyyeeee!

P.S. Sorry about how rushed and sporadic this chapter was, I can tell it feels that way, but as I said, i wanted to get something out before school starts. I can tell it's not nearly as good as it could be, but I hope that you guys at least kind of like it. I'll definitely try to make the next one better either way. There may or may not be a run-in with a couple of Overwatch and Talon agents in store for Rory and Ali next chapter wink wink, nudge nudge, cough cough and Alex being overprotective after yet another disaster hits the news WINK WINK WINK ;) ;) hahaha.


	3. Chapter 3

Hello, everyone! Real quick I just wanna extend a huge thank you to all of you guys! I got a lot of positive feedback through reviews, pms, and follows/favorites! I want you to know I really want to extend a huge thank you to all of you! This type of feedback is what's keeping this story going. So, really, my _sincerest_ thanks to all of you.

Anyway, this chapter is really gonna start to kick off the plot of this story. (I was about to type the action of the story, but I feel like their run-in with Soldier kinda did that hahaha.) This chapter will include/allude to a couple more Overwatch Animated Shorts. If you haven't watched those you can find them on the PlayOverwatch channel on YouTube. But I kinda doubt you guys haven't, but I won't assume all of you have.

The Soldier run-in is the "Heroes" short, the Volskaya attack is in "Infiltration," and the shorts alluded to in this one will be listed at the end of the chapter.

Aaaanyway, onto the chapter! This is gonna be a bit longer than the past two chapters.

* * *

Rory sat back in his seat, running a hand through his hair. He let out a deep sigh and closed his eyes. He'd been at this for hours.

He had been attempting to look up information on Talon, but the public knew very little about them, and most of the results were speculation on the new agent, Sombra.

Alex walked over and put a hand on his shoulder. "Having trouble, _Sobrino_?"

"Just a bit," the young man said, sighing again. "It's almost like Talon doesn't exist."

Alex placed a mug on the desk in front of him and he looked inside to see the contents. Hot chocolate.

"Mm, you spoil me, Tía."

"You know, _Sobrino_ , you're almost thirty years old now. Don't you think it's about time you find your own place?"

"You trying to get rid of me, Al?"

"No, of course not, I'm just saying that your cousin is thirteen years old, and I'm almost fifty. We can take care of ourselves if you move out. I just don't want you to feel like you have to stay here for us."

"I know that, Alex. I do. I don't stay out of obligation, I just don't know where I'd go. I mean I wouldn't mind going somewhere in America again, it's been awhile since we've been home. Like, my childhood home, I mean."

"Then why don't you? We can take care of ourselves out here."

"I dunno. I just don't know if I want to leave. It's a nice little place, even with Los Muertos being here. But that's another thing, I want you two safe."

"I think that 76 man scared them away mostly."

"Don't count on it."

Alex sighed. "Just don't waste your life away because you're worried about us."

"I won't, Alex. I promise. This'll sound weird, but I just haven't felt like it's been the right time to leave."

Alex stood and thought about that for a few moments, Rory looking up at her and patiently waiting for her to answer. "I guess that makes sense. But don't waste away like I did, Rory. I can't do much now. I don't regret staying here or caring for you and Alejandra here, but there's not much opportunity here. Just promise you'll do that for me?"

"I promise, Alex."

"Good."

The two sat in silence for a small time in silence. Rory turned on the TV and saw a news story that piqued his interest.

" _The Omnic monk, Tekhartha Mondatta, will be in London and holding a Human-Omnic equality rally this Saturday. It's open to anyone who wishes to come and hear him._ "

"Huh. That's pretty cool," Rory said. "I wouldn't mind being able to see that."

"Do you want to go?"

"I mean, kinda, but-"

"Then go ahead, Rory. It's Thursday, you'll have plenty to do before the rally, and you can get there with plenty of time."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Ror, go. Have fun. The two of us will be fine."

"Okay, can you call in to get the ticket for me while I pack?"

"Of course."

"Cool! Thank you, Alex!"

"No problem, _Sobrino_."

 **-Line Break-**

Rory's plane had had a delay but he got there in time to get to the rally with time to spare. The crowd began chanting the Omnic's name as he got ready to come out to the stage.

Rory overheard a little girl trying to get her mom's attention and looked back to see a young woman with spiky brown hair and orange goggles trying to sneak through the crowd. The thing that stood out most to him was the object hanging from a harness on her chest, and that object immediately gave away the girl's identity.

He noticed that the girl was trying to get through, so he tapped, her shoulder, showing her that he had room next to him.

"Aw, thanks, love," she said relieved.

"No problem."

She looked at him suspiciously. "What? No 'Oh my God, Tracer is standing next to me!'?"

Rory shook his head. "I figured you wouldn't want all that attention. You're still just a person. I mean you're a hero, but you're a person."

Tracer smiled warmly. "Thanks, love."

"As I said, it's no problem. I'm Rory, by the way."

"It's good to meet you, Rory."

The crowd got significantly louder as the Omnic came out onto the stage. He waited for the crowd to quiet and Tracer tried to peer over people's' heads. "Human. Machine. We are all One within the Iris." People began cheering loudly at that, including Tracer and Rory. "Before me I see the future: humans and omnics standing together."

Tracer was smiling happily before she looked over at the guard, seeing him look troubled. He looked up to the roof, where Tracer looked as well. Rory noticed her attention switch and looked over at her, following her gaze. Tracer slipped through the crowd to get to the back.

"What are you doing?" Rory asked, following.

"Nothing. Just stay here."

"Oh, no. Not if you think there's trouble." Rory pulled a small pistol out from his belt loop in the back. He cocked the pistol and held it with both hands, aiming at the ground. "Let's go."

"You even know how to use that?"

"I'm from Dorado. Los Muertos territory."

Tracer looked at him, surprised. "Okay… just stay close to me."

"Roger."

They snuck up to the rooftops before Tracer stopped him, pinning him against the wall."Oh, damn…"

"What? What's wrong?"

"It's Widowmaker. Talon's number one assassin," she clarified at his confused look. "She must be here to kill Mondatta."

"Oh, no…" Rory breathed. "We have to do something."

" _I_ have to do something. _You_ stay hidden. You can't fight her."

"Oh, yes, I can."

"Please, love. You probably have a family who wants you back safely, no?"

"And you don't?"

Tracer stayed silent for a long while. "I have the best chance of surviving a fight with her. You have little to no chance."

"And you have, what? A little to less than likely chance?"

Tracer didn't respond to that for a long time. "FIne… but you need more than a pistol."

They looked around and saw a guard lying on the ground. Rory went over and checked his pulse. "He's alive, just unconscious."

"Let's hope he doesn't mind you borrowing his gun," Tracer said, picking the gun up from the ground. "Okay, so you stay here while I bait her up to this roof. It might take a little bit, but stay hidden and keep your gun ready."

"Got it."

The hero blinked away, a power that had always made him think she was the coolest, even though she had very clearly been younger than him when she joined Overwatch the first time.

He hid behind a small wall and waited…

He heard gunfire from roofs away and heard glass shattering. Suddenly, Widowmaker was on his roof, leaving a purple mine behind, but Rory couldn't warn Tracer without revealing his position. The hero ran past the mine and choked on the gas it released, stumbling and falling and rolling and sliding across the roof.

The assassin put a foot on the hero's shoulder, aiming her rifle at her head.

"Such a sweet, foolish girl," Widow said evilly.

Rory bolted from his hiding place and shot the assassin in the back twice, making her stumble off of Tracer, but not hurting her as her suit was a form-fitting metal alloy.

Tracer recalled from before the mine hit her and blinked over the poisonous gas. The assassin switched from glaring at the interruption to starring as Tracer flipped in the air.

"What's that?" the brit asked cheekily, shooting her guns at the assassin, causing her to duck and the pistol to hit a pipe, blowing steam everywhere and obscuring Widow's vision.

Rory ran up to her and punched her in the jaw, sending the assassin reeling. She recovered quickly and was preparing to fire at the man before seeing a pulse bomb coming her way and shot the bomb, blowing Rory back onto another roof, and Tracer and herself off the roof.

Rory watched as, in almost slow motion, Widowmaker fired at Tracer, the hero blinking away, only for the bullet to travel, hitting straight into the forehead of the Omnic monk who stared at the explosion and the two falling figures in shock. He was dead before he hit the floor of his car, the crowd crying in fear and sadness.

Widowmaker landed behind Rory, looking at her victim, satisfied. Tracer stopped on the same roof and checked to make sure her chronal accelerator was alright before looking at Widow.

The assassin looked at Tracer and Rory cockily, putting her rifle over her shoulder and saying, "Looks like the party is over."

Tracer looked confused before horror filled her eyes and she looked down at the stage, seeing the dead Omnic. "No… no, no, no… no, no, NO, _NO_!" She turned angrily towards the assassin and blinked over to her, tackling her and hanging her head past the edge of the roof. She knew. She knew she'd blink away. She knew she'd get her target because she couldn't have her accelerator damaged.

Rory watched it unfold and heard the anger and anguish in her voice as she shouted, " _Why?!_ " She choked and paused, looking at the assassin in pure anguish. "Why would you do this?"

The assassin just chuckled at her, confusing both the hero and the baker. Suddenly an airship descended over them, distracting Tracer. That was just enough for Widowmaker to grab her coat and say, " _Adieu, cherie,_ " before backflipping them off the roof, smashing Tracer against the wall and dropping her, grappling back up to the roof.

"Tracer!" Rory shouted, grabbing his gun and firing at the fleeing assassin, but she just grappled up to the airship and watched him fire at the closing doors, sparks flying as the bullets hit them.

Rory watched the airship zoom away, racing down to the roof Tracer struggled to get up from. He rushed to her side and put her arm over his shoulder. "We need to get you some help. Where can we go?"

"Appartment… Few blocks away… Help there…"

Rory helped her to stand. "You gotta stay awake, Trace. You gotta give me directions and help me walk."

"I can… directions… walk… don't know…"

"Please try…"

They got down to the street level and Rory felt her start to let herself just be dragged. He felt this so he set her down for a moment before picking her up, his right arm supporting her back and his left underneath her legs.

"Please try to stay awake, Tracer. How can I find this apartment?"

"Two rights… go straight three blocks… knock on the door of the third apartment from the far end of the block…"

"Okay. Try and stay awake, Tracer."

"Mmmm…"

Rory went as fast as he could without jostling he injured hero too much, the damaged accelerator sending pricks of electricity through his skin.

He set her down on her feet, allowing her to lean on him, and knocked on the door of the building she'd told him to.

A young woman with bright red hair opened the door. She looked confused first but then her eyes went to Tracer heavily leaning on the stranger.

"Oh, my God…" the woman breathed, her hand going over her mouth in shock. "Come in, come in, quickly."

Rory walked in and set the hero on the couch, laying her down.

The redhead quickly unbuckled the girl's harness and took it off, the jacket following quickly, leaving her in a plain white t-shirt. She pulled off her goggles as well and set them on the coffee table.

Rory looked at the hero worriedly, but knew she was in good hands as the hero relaxed when the woman inspected her wounds from having her accelerator crushed against her.

"I'll be right back, I want to let my family know I'm okay," he old the redhead.

"Of course," she replied, nodding but not looking at him.

He left the room and pulled out his phone, dialing his aunt's number.

It had barely rung for a second when his aunt was crying into the phone. "Oh, _Sobrino_ , thank God you're okay! We heard about the accident and on the news they said there was an explosion where that old Overwatch agent Tracer and some blue-skinned woman flew off and the woman shot the monk and-and-"

"Alex," he said softly, cutting her off. "I'm okay. Really."

"A witness said they saw someone who looked extremely like you sneak off with Tracer and I was so worried! I'm just glad it wasn't you and that you're okay!"

"Um… That actually was me…"

" _WHAT?!_ "

Rory moved the phone away from his ear quickly and winced. "I'm fine though, Alex, I promise. But Tracer got hurt so I took her to her friend's apartment for some help. I'll be here for a little while, but I'll be home soon."

"Just… just be careful, Ror. Please. Don't get too far in over your head."

"I promise, _Tía_. I'll talk to you later and be home before you know it."

"Bye, Ror. I love you. I'll tell Ali you said hi and that you're safe."

"Don't tell her about Tracer just yet."

"Okay. Bye."

"Love you, Alex."

He hung up and walked back into the living room, seeing Tracer laying on the couch with her head on the redhead's lap. The woman stroked her hair absentmindedly.

Rory smiled at the sight and cleared his throat, getting her attention.

The woman blushed and avoided his gaze with a sheepish smile. "Um… hi. I'm Emily, Tracer's girlfriend…" she said nervously. There were still a lot of people who looked down on same-sex relations, and she didn't know what Rory's stance on it was.

"It's good to meet you, Emily," Rory said, a reassuring tone to his voice. "Sorry that I couldn't stop her from getting hurt."

"It's the hero in her," Emily sighed. "Always rushing headfirst into danger, especially with Widowmaker. She's a former Overwatch agent, like Tracer. They all still hold onto hope that she's not completely out of their reach."

"Ah. That explains a little bit."

"Yeah… Um, sorry, I didn't catch your name?"

"Oh, sorry, I'm Rory. I came in from Dorado for the Rally, but things definitely took quite the turn."

"Dorado, huh? That the place where Soldier: 76 had been blowing up that gang, Los Myoor-toes or something? Sorry, I'm not very good at Spanish."

"Los Muertos," he politely corrected. "And yeah. I actually got caught in the crossfire with my cousin."

"Haha, danger must stick to you like a fruit roll-up wrapper."

Rory chuckled at that. "I've never heard that analogy, but it's a good one."

The two shared a laugh before Tracer tossed in her sleep, her face scrunching up. Rory looked on in concern as Emily stroked her hair, slightly calming the hero.

"What's going on? Nightmare?"

"Could be…" The way she said it told Rory that there was more to it that's that. It also warned him not to ask.

"Do you said Widowmaker was an Overwatch agent? Why does she work for Talon now?"

"You may have heard of her husband, Gerard Lacroix?"

"Her husband was Gerard Lacroix? He spearheaded anti-Talon missions, didn't he?"

"Yeah, well she went on a mission with him and was kidnapped. They reconditioned her and turned her into a sleeper agent. They found her again and everything seemed fine. Two weeks later Gerard didn't show up for work, so they went to their home to check on him. They found him on his bed, suffocated, and Amélie was gone."

" _Jesucristo_ …"

"Yeah…"

"That's horrible…"

"They thought Gerard has been killed and Amélie kidnapped again, so when Captain Ana Amari saw her during a hostage mission, she didn't take her shot. Widowmaker did."

"That's about the time Overwatch started falling apart, when they lost three of their best agents, Gerard, Amélie, and Ana."

"Except one of them is still alive. Tracer holds out hope she's still able to come back. She's not the only one, but she hopes most."

"That's crazy…" _And now Sombra works with her…_ he thought to himself.

"It really is…"

Rory looked down at the hero and noticed that she already looked a lot better. "Must not have been as hard a hit as I thought…"

"No, it was, but she's had worse. Not to mention her powers meaning a faster metabolism and advanced healing factor."

"So her powers kinda make her similar to the Flash?"

Emily thought about that for a second. "Hm, I'd never thought about it like that, but yeah, I guess she kinda is like the Flash."

"Huh."

The hero's eyes snapped open and Rory saw the panicked look in her eyes. She sat up quickly, looking at Emily, to the harness on the floor, and then saw him.

She froze for a split-second when she looked at him but then remembered what had happened. "Oh. It's you, Rory."

"Yeah. How're you doing?"

"I'm alright. Did you get hurt at all?"

"No, I'm good. Emily was worried sick."

The hero looked to her girlfriend and smiled. "You know me, too stubborn to die."

"Yeah, but your accelerator might need some work done."

Tracer looked panicked for a split-second as her gaze flickered to the accelerator, then to a strange object that Rory hadn't noticed before. It looked like it was made from similar tech to her harness but could be plugged in in rooms rather than hang from her chest.

"Okay," the hero said, semi-nervously. She saw Rory's worried gaze and looked down into her lap. "Um… can I trust you, Rory?"

"I'd like to say that I'm trustworthy, yeah."

"Okay… so my real name is Lena Oxton. I was a pilot for a new teleporting aircraft called the Slipstream." She noticed a slight change in his demeanor at the mention of her name. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, you just have the same name as my mother."

"Oh. Is she out in Dorado waiting for you to get back?"

"Is that who you called?" Emily asked.

Rory grimaced as his eyes started to sting slightly. He avoided their gazes as he said, "No. She was killed during the Omnic attack on Dorado twenty years ago."

Tracer's mouth fell open slightly. "I…"

"Don't apologize, please. It's in the past. Just continue your story please."

"O-okay… Um, so they were looking for pilots and they had me do it. They thought it was ready and decided to have me go for a test flight. There was a problem with the teleportation matrix though and the plane malfunctioned disappearing with me in it. I disappeared for months. Then I reappeared months later but I was never there for long. They called it 'Chronal Disassociation.' I'd disappear and reappear for days, weeks, even months. Until Winston, the head Overwatch scientist, made me that Chronal Accelerator. It keeps me anchored here." She laughed nervously. "It's not easy to deal with the fact that if that tech malfunctions I could either be gone for seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years… or even forever…"

" _Dios mio…_ "

"Yeah…"

Emily put her arm around her girlfriend, and the hero unconsciously scooted closer to her. "You want something to eat, love?" she asked her, and Rory could tell she meant the pet name rather than the "love" the English hero had for her signature line.

"Yeah. Thanks, Em."

"It's no trouble." The girl kissed her forehead and stood, heading to the kitchen.

Tracer watched her go with a small smile before moving over and indicating for Rory to take a seat next to her. "Have a seat, love."

Rory smiled and sat down. "You're even more badass in person than in the stories."

Tracer laughed. "Thanks, Rory. That's nice of you. You're pretty alright, too."

Rory chuckled. "Well, landing a punch on Talon's top assassin isn't too shabby, is it?"

"When when she can't see anything it's not nearly as impressive."

"Minor details."

The two laughed and a sense of familiarity rushed into Rory. Maybe it was just since she and his mother shared the same name (he almost snorted at the thought, and couldn't help but think that when she told him her name he should've screamed "WHY DID YOU SAY THAT NAME?!") **(A/N: If any of you get that reference, let me know and I'll give you a cake. Or at least I would. Or maybe some SR for competitive rank)** , but it reminded him of how playful and fun Sombra was before she joined up with Los Muertos.

He had been sure he had been getting over her until he heard her name on the news. It still wasn't as bad as it was when she left, but knowing she was out there was making him remember those moments where they'd wake up after one of them having a nightmare and the other would climb into bed with them and they'd just hold them as they cried.

He had a particularly fond memory of the two sitting in their living room and watching a movie and Sombra had laid down with her head in his lap. She had been tired before the movie had even started, so he wasn't surprised when she had fallen asleep like that. He turned the movie off and slightly readjusted himself so they were both comfortable. He fell asleep soon after. His aunt had taken a picture of it, but they'd had to delete every trace of it. He had made a copy before that though and he had it in his wallet, and he sometimes looked at it when he missed her. He doubted she even remembered those nights.

"-ory!"

He turned to see Tracer looking at him amusedly. "What?"

"You zoned out, Rory. You've been sitting like that for almost five minutes. Been trying to get your attention for two."

"Oh. Sorry."

"What were you thinkin' about, love?"

"An old friend…"

"Friend or _friend_?" she asked, winking.

Rory snorted. "Friend."

"Mmhm…" she hummed disbelievingly.

"Maybe wanted her to be more, but I haven't seen her in years…"

"Ah."

"You and Emily compliment each other well, by the way."

Lena blushed. "Thanks, love."

"Don't let her hear you call me that," he joked.

"Lena, do we need to have a talk?" they heard Emily yell.

"No, darling!" Lena shouted back, punching Rory playfully. "You can't handle this much Brit, boy. Besides, I'm lesbian, not bisexual."

"That's really good for you," Rory said seriously. "More power to you and Emily. It's hard being gay or lesbian in a world like this, and that's for anyone who's not a global hero."

"It's tough sometimes, but we love each other. That's what counts."

"Dinner's ready!"

"Care to join us, Rory?" Lena asked.

"Oh, no. I couldn't. I should be ready to get out of here anyway. My aunt and cousin will be expecting me home."

"They can wait for you to have dinner."

"...Yeah, I guess. Thank you, Lena."

"No problem, Rory."

 **-Line Break-**

"So you're saying Tracer had help?" Sombra asked.

"I don't know who he was," Widow told her. "He had a distinct accent. Like yours used to be before being around an American wraith and a French assassin."

Sombra chuckled. "We could start our own reality show."

"I'm serious, Sombra. Look at ze footage from my visor and scan it for him."

Sombra rolled her eyes before grabbing the visor from the assassin and scanning it for the footage of the battle. Not she plugged it in and cross referenced it with Talon and public databases and ran facial recognition. "It'll take a couple minutes but he'll show up. You, Tracer, Mondatta, and him."

"You know, I'd feel remorse if I could. I know he didn't deserve to die. What he was doing was right. But… ze thrill of ze

kill is just too much sometimes…"

Sombra didn't know how to respond to that, so she kept quiet, waiting for the computer to get a hit. "Got 'im."

Four profiles showed up. Widow, Tracer, Mondatta, and someone familiar to them both, and dear to Sombra.

Both women looked at each other, Widowmaker feeling genuine surprise, and Sombra not sure whether to feel joy, sadness, fear, or anything.

"Rory Carson…" Widow breathed. "That's not…"

" _Mi amigo… Dios mío, está muy mal..._ "

"You can say zat again…"

" _Está muy mal…_ "

Widow looked at Sombra. "On ze bright side, I was wrong about you never seeing him again…"

"We really need to work on your definition of 'bright side'…" She turned quickly to Widow. "The rest of Talon can't know. They'll figure out my connection and then they'll kill him or hang him over a fire to get me to do their dirty work. They _cannot_ know."

"Okay. I won't tell zem."

"Not even Reaper."

"What?"

The two snapped their heads to the doorway where Reaper stood, arms folded. "Gabe! You're back early! Uh, it's nothing, Gabe!," Sombra said quickly.

"You know, you're a horrible liar. Especially when you haven't had time to compose your little cocky, tough woman act."

"It's nothing of importance," she told him, hoping to God that he'd believe her. "Just some stuff between me and Widow."

"Obviously, if you're telling her not to tell Talon or me."

"...Gabriel, if I tell you this, I'm begging you not to tell anyone… I will get on my knees and beg, but they _cannot_ know."

Neither woman could see his face under his mask, but he didn't answer for a long while. Finally, he sighed and said, "Fine. If it's that important to you."

"Thank you, Gabe." She turned and showed him the screen. "Someone was with Tracer tonight for Widow's assassination. This man, Rory Carson." Sombra looked at Gabriel, a pleading look in her eyes. "That Rory was my childhood best friend. I don't know what he was doing there, but I can't see him hurt. I… I loved him when I left, and I don't feel if nearly as strong, but please, I can't see him caught in the Overwatch/Talon crossfire. They'll either kill him because he might be a distraction or they'll hang a threat of his death over my head. Please, Gabriel."

Underneath his mask, Gabriel Reyes looked at the man. He had a handsome face with brown hair and blue eyes. He was 29, the same as Sombra. He still lived in Dorado, so either he was in with Overwatch or he had just been there for the rally and gotten mixed up in the fight.

"Do you think he might be Overwatch?"

"They disbanded years ago."

"They'll come back. And who's to say they haven't already? Do you think he'd join?"

"I… I'm not sure. He dreamed of being part of Overwatch as a kid, but I don't know. I think it's far more likely he was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Are you saying that because it's what you believe or because it's what you want to believe?"

Sombra bit her lip, really reflecting on that question. He was always the type to protect people who couldn't protect themselves. He'd have made a great Overwatch agent. But with no actual battle training or experience, the odds were astronomical. She hoped to God that he hadn't gotten mixed up in all of it, and on the opposite side of the battlefield from her.

"Both," she finally settled on.

"Okay… It'll stay between us three."

"Thank you, Gabriel," Sombra said, standing and embracing the man. He stiffened and didn't do anything for the entire duration of the hug. "Sorry."

He just cleared his throat and went into Reaper mode. "I wasn't able to get the agent's information from the monkey's lab. He stopped the download." He tensed up again. "Turns out death by electrocution isn't very fun…"

"So, no Overwatch agent data?" Widow asked.

"No."

"We'll just have to continue without it."

"Continue what?" Sombra asked.

Widow looked at Reaper for confirmation, and he nodded. "Akande Ogundimu. Do you know that name?"

Sombra pulled up a holodisplay in front of her and typed in the name. "Doomfist," she breathed out. "One of Talon's most powerful council members. He pretty much ran the show before the monkey stopped him."

"Yes," Reaper said, continuing where Widow left off. "We're being sent on a mission to retrieve his gauntlet from that damned Overwatch museum. He's got a plan to break out. And when he's ready, we're going to be there to receive him and we'll get him ready to fight back here at the base."

"Wait… so Doomfist is coming back, and now without Overwatch. And we're going to do… what?"

"Cause terror," Widow said, a smirk on her face. "What terrorists do best."

"Fun," Sombra said, a grin plastered on her face. "I'll get the blueprints of the museum up and figure out the best way for you to do it."

Widow and Reaper left the room, and Sombra's face filled with terror. " _Dios mío._ Doomfist?"

Sombra looked back at the door, making sure the two were actually gone. She stood and closed the door before going to her bed and bringing up a holocomputer and downloading the museum blueprints. Next she pulled out her phone and sent an anonymous message to a number that hadn't been used in years, but she knew it'd reach the right people.

"Time to plan a museum heist…"

 **-Line Break-**

Winston stared at the screen.

"Overwatch Recall? Y/N"

He raised his hand about to press the "Y" when a message popped up in front of the screen. He read through it and his eyes widened. "Oh, no…"

He turned his head up. "Athena, who sent this?"

" _I'm not sure, Winston. Nor can I determine how much truth is behind this message. It could very well be a trap."_

Winston grimaced, his eyes set in steely determination as he moved the message aside, quickly pressing the "Y" onscreen.

" _Establishing agent connections."_

Winston watched in wonder and flee as names and pictures flew past the screen. Angela, Reinhardt, Torbjörn, Genji, McCree, Pharah, Mei. And he watched in sadness as many more that had been killed or joined Talon or had just decided I get out of the game flew by as well until one name froze onscreen, a voice echoing through to him as he grinned.

" _Winston, is that you, love? Aha! It's been too long!"_

He smiled and chuckled. "Yes, yes, it has."

* * *

And another one done! The shorts included in this chapter are "Alive" and "Recall."

Did you guys see the new one about Mei? IT'S SO SAD GUYS! That poor girl! Except in-game sometimes Mei's can be annoying. I'd know, I main Mei. I'm totally joking, I don't main Mei. Mostly Zen, Junk, Soldier, Lució, and Orisa. Not in that order but.

Also, I want to give a huge thanks to ShingetsuMoon for letting me use their idea for Tracer's PTSD after the Slipstream accident. Or at least for giving me the inspiration for it, if there are other stories out there that do that. Their story "Along Came a Spider" is amazing! It's a TracerXWidow, which is never really thought as a plausible relationship, but they really made it work! I highly recommend you check it out!

So thanks again, guys! If you want, go ahead and leave a review telling me how I did! What you liked, what you hated, any of it! Criticism welcome! Thanks again, and I'll see you next time!

~Ravenclaw'sHeir2020


	4. Chapter 4

Hey, everybody! I'm back again!

Once again, I got a lot of super nice feedback from all of you! Thank you guys for being so supportive of me and this story! I really can't tell you how grateful I am. And I mean it, from the bottom of my heart, thank you!

I'm grumpy because I still haven't gotten the museum into a chapter, but if I added everything I have planned for all the museum stuff, this chapter would've been unnecessarily long, so I had to suspend it once again. Grrrr. But I SWEAR it will be in the next one!

Anyway, enough chit-chat! Onto the fourth chapter!

* * *

Rory sat at the table with Emily and Tracer, eating spaghetti, his favorite meal. It was simple, but delicious in his opinion.

Lena had a serving four times the size of his and Emily's, but he assumed that it had to do with her increased healing factor and her Flash-like powers.

He looked at her with a smile smile as she shoveled another mouthful into her mouth.

She saw his look and froze with the spaghetti half hanging out of her mouth. She slowly used her fork to get the remaining noodles into her mouth **(A/N: I had a bad feeling about playing the pronoun game here :/)**. She put her fork down and looked down into her lap. "Sorry, love. My metabolism is higher so it doesn't take as long for me to digest food and use up the energy and carbs and the calories." Rory noticed her eyes flicker to her stomach and back to her lap.

"Don't worry about it, Lena," he said with a small smile. "I'm not judging you at all, I promise."

She tried to smile at him, but he could tell it was forced. "Thanks, Rory."

Rory smiled and returned to eating his food, as she did the same, but noticeably calmer than before. Rory couldn't help but feel bad for the poor girl, but he'd known girls with depression before, and she showed some of the symptoms of it. It didn't mean that she for sure had depression, but he thought that it was definitely possible. She definitely was concerned about her weight, as her glance at her stomach had definitely had a trace of sadness in it, and his heart went out for the hero.

Emily took Rory's plate when he had finished and gave her girlfriend a kiss on the cheek as she went to clean the dishes. Rory smiled at the sight. The two were nice together and really complimented each other well. Each cared deeply for the other, he could tell.

As Lena ate, he noticed her glancing up at him as he sat silently, likely thinking he was still judging her.

He decided to change the topic. "So how long has it been since you've contacted anyone in Overwatch?"

The hero smiled sadly. "A _long_ time… we were all so close in those days, but after it was shut down, we all figured it would be best to forget about those days...including each other… I miss them a lot. Angela, Reinhardt, Torb, McCree, Fareeha, Genji, Mei, Winston… Ana, Jack, Gabe, Amélie, Gérard… all of them…" She smiled sadly. "You remind me a bit of Jack, actually…"

"I'm sorry, Lena."

"S'alright, love," she said, trying to smile. She rose and the two went into the living room. "I've got Emily, and that's all I really need," she said, smiling wistfully.

Rory smiled. "Awwwwww," he cooed, mockingly.

"Oh, shut up, ya wanker."

"What? It's cute," he said honestly. "Makes me wish I had what you two have."

"So why don't you? You're a handsome enough guy."

"I don't know. Just never really thought about I guess."

"You sure it's not cause you've been dwelling on what could have been with that old friend of yours?"

Rory thought about that for a moment. There were some women his age in Dorado, and a few of them had indeed asked him out, but he had always politely declined. He was friends with many of the young men and women in Dorado, but he had never thought about any of them like that. The only person he had thought about like that was Sombra.

"I'm not sure," he said honestly. "I've just never thought about it much since she left. I don't know."

She was about to answer when her phone rang. She checked it and gasped. "Em! Get in here!" The hero quickly sat back again and made room beside her for Emily.

Rory looked at the message on her phone. "What is it?"

"It's a message broadcasting on the Overwatch emergency broadcast channel…" Emily said disbelievingly. "You don't think…?"

Tracer opened the message and she gasped before laughing. "Winston!"

 **(A/N: Okay, I myself have lost track of my timeline, but I think that it's still set so that there's no continuity error here. I could be wrong, but if you think it's off, let me know. I'm pretty sure I had it in my head that Rory was born just about when the Omnic Crisis started, then about ten years later his mom died. Then about twenty years later this happens. So I think I have it right.)**

" _Thirty years ago, the Omnics declared war…_ "

"Winston's a gorilla?" Rory asked incredulously.

"He's smarter than any human scientist I've ever met," Lena said. "Now shush."

They listened to the message all the way through. Rory noticed Lena begin to tear up as Winston said, " _They tore our family apart._

" _But look around!_ " Images of explosions from terrorist attacks around the world showed in the video. " _Someone has to do something!_ We _have to do something! The world needs us now, more than ever!_ " The monkey removed his glasses and stared into the camera, and Rory felt himself get goose bumps from the inspiring speech he was hearing. " _Are you with me?_ "

Lena had tears in her eyes and a huge smile on her face. "Yes, I am, Winston!"

Emily looked at her girlfriend with a smile. "You ready to be a hero again, Lena?"

"Yeah. Yeah I am, love."

Rory smiled at them. "That's great news."

"Rory, you can't tell anyone! The Petras Act deems all Overwatch activity illegal! We can't be caught doing this!"

"I won't tell a soul. But I'm sure it'll get out soon enough."

"Unfortunately, you're likely right."

"I'm going to go," Rory said, rising from the couch. Good luck, Lena. I hope to see you two again."

"I'm sure you will, Rory," Emily said. "You've been a great guest. And a great help tonight. Have a safe flight home."

"Wait, Rory!" Lena stood quickly and gave him her phone, snatching his from his hand. "Exchange numbers in case we need each other," she explained.

"Oh, got it." Rory jokingly looked at Emily. "I think you've got competition, Emily."

"Well, if I see them, I'll let them know to back off," she quipped.

"That hurts," he said, putting a hand on his chest in feigned pain. The three laughed before the two re-exchanged phones. "Have a good night," he said, grabbing his jacket and exiting their apartment.

Lena laughed again and hugged Emily tightly. "It's Winston! He's recalling Overwatch!"

"I know. I'm happy for you, love."

Lena noticed the sadness in her voice. "What's wrong, Em?"

"It just means I have to stay here and wonder each time if you'll come back after a mission…"

"Oh, Em, you know I will. Every time."

"I hope so, Lena. I dunno what I'd do without you, love."

"I dunno either," Tracer joked. "You'd be a wreck without me."

The two laughed before Lena kissed the redhead softly. "But I mean it, Em, you won't lose me."

"I hope not."

Tracer smiled at her and grabbed her phone again, calling Winston. When he picked up, the disbelief hit her like a truck. Was it really…?

"Winston, is that you, love?" She grinned. "Aha! It's been too long!"

" _Yes… Yes, it has._ "

"What's going on, big guy? What's with the recall?"

" _There's been so many terror attacks recently. But what really pushed me over the edge was when Reaper came to my lab._ "

Lena gasped. "Reaper? What did he want?"

" _He came for the Overwatch Agent database, but I was able to stop him from getting it. But Lena, as I was cleaning up I found that some tech I had was stolen. Your chronal tech. Someone stole it._ "

Lena felt the blood drain from her face. "Wh-what?"

" _It was all tech that has to do with your blinking ability, so it's likely they were working on some sort of teleportation device._ "

"I'm not sure whether to be afraid for them or pissed off at them!" she said loudly.

" _I know Lena, we'll find them._ " He sighed before asking, " _How are you doing? I saw the news._ "

"I'm alright, big guy. I might not be if not for that guy who was there with me."

" _Yes, who was he?_ "

"All I got was his first name, Rory."

Winston didn't say anything for a moment but she could hear clicks from a keyboard. " _That'll help narrow the search at least…_ " He paused again. " _Rory Carson. Lives in Dorado with his aunt Alex and cousin Alejandra. His mother…_ "

"Killed in Dorado during the Omnic Crisis… He told us…"

"' _Us'?_ "

"Hey, Winsty," Emily said.

" _Ah, hello, again, Emily. How're you?_ "

"Never better, Nutter Butter."

Winston scoffed at the old nickname and continued where he'd left off about Rory. " _His father doesn't seem to be recorded here._ "

"Do you think it may have been someone in Overwatch?" Lena asked.

" _It's quite possible… Wait…_ "

Lena heard more clicking and got more and more suspicious. "Winston, what's goin' on, love? What're you thinkin'?"

On the other end of the call, the scientist typed away and looked at the screen. His eyes widened as he found what he was looking for. 'My God…' he thought as he stared at the face of his old ally. 'That's not good…'

" _Winston, love, what did ya find?_ "

"Nothing, Lena," he lied, adding the information to a classified folder. "Dead-end."

On the King's Row end of things, the hero scrunched up her face in confusion. "Ooo-kay…?"

" _Lena, I have one more piece of bad news. I received an anonymous email and I don't know if it's true or if it's a trap, but… I'm forwarding it to you now._ "

Lena snatched her laptop and logged into her Overwatch email. A funny thing she had always thought, to have a classified email account. She read through the email and her eyes widened, as did her girlfriend's as she read over we shoulder. "You don't think he's going to try to break out, do you?"

" _I don't know. But he wouldn't dare unless they already had the gauntlet. So if it's true…_ "

"Then we have to stop them." She read through the email again. "It says here that their protocol for a compromised assignment is to do the mission in broad daylight. So, if we let them know we're there, they might attack while civilians are there…"

" _We need to be prepared for anything. Except you and I are the only agents available at the moment, as you're the only one who responded so far. Doctor Ziegler is busy, as a doctor would be. I don't know about Reinhardt or Torbjörn, McCree is probably off drinking himself to death. Genji is likely with Zenyatta, mourning. Fareeha is with Helix Security, and Mei was with Ecopoint: Antarctica when they went into cryosleep before Overwatch collapsed. We lost contact with them nine years ago, so she may not even be alive anymore…_ "

"Oh, no… Not Mei too…"

" _We don't know for sure, but it's quite possible._ " He paused again. " _Do you know anyone who would be willing to help?_ "

Lena looked at Emily. "Do you think he'd do it?"

"Maybe," the redhead replied uncertainly, "but he's on his way back to Dorado."

"Winston, do we have an airship that could get to Dorado and bring him to the museum?"

" _Who? Mr. Carson?_ "

"Yeah."

" _We have one, if you'd be willing to pilot it there to get him._ "

"As long as it doesn't teleport, that's fine," she joked, pain in her eyes as Emily rubbed her shoulder.

" _No teleporting ships for at least the next century,_ " Winston promised.

"Good. Then yeah, I can do that. Just let me call him and I'll get back to you. Talk to you in a little bit, Win."

" _It was nice to hear from you, Lena. You too, Emily. Talk to you soon._ "

Lena hung up and smiled at Emily. "Let's see what Rory thinks about joining Overwatch."

"But we should probably wait until he's at least partially settled at home. Which should be in… Ten hours-ish?"

"Yeah, you're right. So about eight o'clock in the morning. At least we can get some rest."

 **-Line Break-**

Rory landed in Dorado ten hours later. It was two forty-five in the morning when he got home. He opened the door to the bakery to see his aunt asleep on the couch, the fireplace glowing softly.

He smiled sadly, knowing she had been waiting for him to arrive all that time. He went to their spare bedding closet and grabbed a blanket, gently laying it over her.

He knew he wasn't going to be sleeping with how well he slept on the plane, so he went over to the computer and searched "Widowmaker."

'Nothing…' Rory thought. 'Nobody knows who she is or that she even exists.'

He then typed in "blue assassin Mondatta." Search results blew up on the screen, and he saw that people were already making up their own fake versions of the story.

'Typical,' he thought, sighing.

Next he searched "Jack Morrison." Lena hadn't been the first one to compare him to Jack. People always said he resembled him a bit, besides having his mother's eyes. Especially his need to help people in trouble, those who couldn't help themselves.

He looked at a picture of Morrison and then focused on his own reflection, staring back at him. They really did have a strange resemblance. Many people asked him if he was related to him, but he wasn't as far as he knew. Many even asked his mother if Jack was his father, but she'd always told them that his father had died before Rory was born.

He sighed before closing the search window and leaning back in his chair. He looked over and saw his aunt stirring. He stood and walked over, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, Al."

She blearily looked at him and smiled. "Hey, Ror. When did you get back?"

"About a half hour ago. Didn't want to wake you."

"You didn't have to worry about that," she said, sitting up. Rory sat down beside her and she looked at him. "You okay, _¿Sobrino?_ "

"Yeah, I'm okay, Alex."

"Good." She smiled. "What was it like, meeting Tracer?"

He chuckled. "Interesting. She's funny, kind-"

"Cuuuute?" she asked, nudging his shoulder.

He rolled his eyes. "She has a girlfriend, _Tía_."

"Oh, wow," she said. "That's really great for her."

"I told her that. They're good together."

"That's nice. You sad that your childhood celebrity crush is taken?"

"No, _Tía_ ," he said, rolling his eyes.

The two laughed before Alex told him, "By the way, Ali is on her way to the Overwatch Museum in Numbani with Rosa. They left at about six o'clock. They'll arrive at around noon our time, six o'clock Numbani time. That's in the evening, by the way."

"Really? That sounds like fun."

"It should be," Alex agreed.

Rory was about to respond when his phone rang. He checked and saw that it was Lena. "It's Tracer," he told his aunt confusedly.

He answered the phone and put in on speaker. "Hello?"

" _Rory, hey! Did you have a safe flight home?_ "

"Yeah, I'm here with my aunt. Phone's on speaker, by the way."

" _Does she know about 'the thing'?_ "

"What thing, Rory?"

"Overwatch is getting back together," he told her quickly. "What's going on, Tracer?"

" _So Winston and I are the only Overwatch agents ready to do anything right now, and we got an anonymous email saying Talon plans to attack the Overwatch Museum in Numbani-_ "

"Wait, the Museum?!" Rory asked, panicking. "Are you sure?!"

"Yeah, why? What's going on, Rory?"

"My cousin and her friend are on a plane there now, and are likely halfway there as we speak!"

" _Oh… That's not good… Because if Talon knows we're there, they'll attack during the day when there are civilians there…_ "

"What do they want from there?" Rory asked.

" _Akande Ogundimu's gauntlet._ "

Rory looked his aunt in the eye, seeing multiple emotions in them, fear being most prominent. "Tracer, what do you need me to do?"

" _If you're willing to, Winston and I were hoping you'd come and help us. You aren't ready to face Reaper and Widowmaker together, but civilians are going to be in harm's way and we need to prevent them eying hurt. And if we need help with Reaper and Widow, it wouldn't hurt to have an extra person._ "

Rory hadn't moved his gaze from Alex's, silently arguing with her. Finally, her eyes turned sad and the fear increased as she looked away and nodded. "I'll do it," he said determinedly.

" _That's great! Thanks, love! The airship we have can cut the flights at least in half, so message me a location and I'll meet you there in five hours max._ "

"Got it. I'll see you then." He hung up and stood. "I'm sorry, Alex, but I can't let Ali be there alone."

"I know, _Sobrino_ … Just promise me you'll be careful."

"I will. I'll come back, I promise." He went into his bedroom and opened up his closet. He reached into his bag and grabbed his gun that he'd brought to King's Row (lucky for him, Sombra had taught him a couple tricks to get a weapon through airport security). He knew that Lena and Winston would likely give him another weapon, but he wanted his pistol with him. He grabbed his black hoodie and went back downstairs.

"Where's somewhere I can have them meet me where there're won't be many people?" Rory asked Alex.

"The abandoned warehouse a few blocks down would probably work," she said, her worry still clear in her voice.

Rory sighed and sat down next to his aunt, clasping her hands in his. "Alex, it's going to be okay. Ali and I will both come back home."

"I know you will," she said, trying to smile. "But I'm your aunt. I've taken care of you since you were nine years old. And as happy I am for you to finally be doing what you always dreamed of… I don't want you to go work with Overwatch and then… forget about us…"

"What?" he asked, scoffing slightly at the thought of it. "I could never forget about you two."

Alex looked down at her lap sadly. "That's what your father said…"

Rory looked at her confusedly. "What?"

Alex turned to look at him, her gaze sympathetic. "Your father didn't die before you were born, Rory… He left shortly after."

Rory just stared at her. Had he really just heard that? "Wh-what?"

"Your father left you and your mother to go fight in the Omnic Crisis. He was a good, faithful soldier. A little too much so. He was more married to his work than he was to your mother."

Rory's head was spinning as he tried to process what he was hearing. "W-wait… I-I-I…"

"I'm sorry, Rory…"

"So he just left…? Did they keep in touch at all?"

"She tried to keep in touch with him… but all his letters were short and he eventually sent one that… it hurt her a lot…"

"What did it say?" Rory asked, obviously trying to keep his anger in check.

"...I have it in the drawer of that desk… Go ahead and grab it…"

Rory stood and went to the desk, pulling the drawer open forcefully and digging through until he found a letter addressed 'Lena.'

He opened it and read through it slowly, taking in every word.

 _Lena,_

 _Wow, his first steps, huh? Kid's growing up real fast._

 _Lena, I need to you stop sending me such long letters. And such frequent letters. I don't have time to be reading letters when I'm out on the front lines fighting a war. I'm sorry, but I have a duty to our country and our world to be focusing on protecting them, not on how much my wife misses me or how my kid is growing. I can focus on you two when I come home from this war. I hope you understand what I mean._

 _Speaking of the war. It's going well. I've been promoted to Strike Commander. They've even begun to erect a statue of me. Finally some recognition._

 _Anyway, I have to go. More battles to be fought and won._

 _Until I have time to write again,_

 _Jack_

Rory stood there, appalled. He looked at the name once more. "Jack…" he whispered. 'People always said I look like…' "Jack Morrison…"

Alex looked at him sadly. "Yes… Lena read it and cried for hours. Then when she stopped crying, she grabbed a piece of paper. He sent back a response on the same paper. It's in the desk as well."

He dug through the papers and found another. Addressed 'Lena C.'

First, he read what his mother said.

 _Fine. In fact, I think it's better that you don't come back at all, if we're such a distraction. If you don't want to be a part of our son's life, then you can just fuck off and leave us. Forget about us, just like you seem to want to, you glory-seeking son of a bitch!_

And then Jack's response.

 _I'm sorry, Lena. My duty comes first. But if that's how you feel, then fine. I won't come back home. You never have to hear from me again._

 _Goodbye, Lena Carson._

 _Strike Commander Jack Morrison of Overwatch._

Rory had angry tears flowing down his cheeks as he finished reading. "That… that son of a bitch…"

"He showed up to her funeral. I saw him and made sure he kept away from you. And when the Swiss Overwatch base collapsed, killing him, I couldn't have been happier… Which I felt horrible for…"

"He… He deserved far worse than being crushed under a building…" Rory said, crumpling up the pieces of paper. He turned and threw them into the fire. He whirled around looking for something to hit. He saw his old baseball bat in the corner and grabbed it, going to the door. "I need to smash something," he said, not waiting for her to reply.

He left the bakery and walked into an alleyway. He wound up and swung the bat, denting a tin trash can and knocking it over. He spun around and smashed a bottle that was sitting on the dumpster and then hit the dumpster. Everything was a blur and all he could see was red.

He spun one more until he saw an Omnic standing at the end of the alleyway. Their body language told him how scared they were. He looked down at the bat and dropped in on the ground, looking back to the Omnic. "I'm sorry…" he said, just loudly enough for the Omnic to hear.

The Omnic ran back out of the alley, and Rory turned putting his back against the wall and sinking to the floor, angry tears flowing down his cheeks.

He heard loud footsteps and heard them come to a stop as they reached him, a hand being placed on his shoulder. He looked up to see a red, white, and blue jacket and a glowing red visor.

"What's wrong, kid? I heard noise and thought it was Los Muertos. I came and found you swinging a bat at garbage. What did that dumpster do to you, might I ask?"

Rory looked up at him, rage consuming his features. " _That_ dumpster, nothing…"

"Family?"

Rory scoffed. "If you can even call him that."

"Abusive? Deserter?"

"Deserter… Because he wanted to be recognized as a hero and thought that took precedence over his family…"

76 was quiet for a moment. "Sounds like an arrogant bastard."

Rory scoffed. "I doubt he even knew that my mother died when he died."

"He's dead? I'll bet you wanna revive him and kill him again."

"You have no idea… Fucking 'Strike Commander Jack Morrison of Overwatch.' Son of a bitch…" Rory looked up at him. "You were in Overwatch. Did you know him?"

"Yeah… Everyone knew Jack. He always was arrogant. He never realized it. Not even when his wife, apparently your mother, told him she didn't want to see him again because he had been rude. And it was true, he was rude. Although he didn't know how rude until…"

"Until what?"

"Until he heard the news of Lena Carson dying in the Dorado attack by the Omnics."

Rory looked at him, angrily puzzled. "That's what it took to bring him to his senses? My mother dying was what finally snapped him out of it!"

"Yeah...He went to her funeral and came back even worse. Said your aunt prevented him from seeing you, and for good reason."

"Damn straight," Rory replied, his gaze sinking back to the concrete. "He…"

"He's not worth getting so worked up over. He was a glory-seeking bastard towards your mother and it took her death to realize it. When he died, Overwatch changed forever. And now they're gone."

"You know, you could rejoin. There's been a recall."

"What?"

"I'm getting picked up in a few hours to join a mission," Rory said, wiping his eyes on his sleeve. "You could join us and help."

76 just stared at him, his expression hidden by the visor. "That's a bad idea. My methods are a bit more unorthodox than Overwatch would care for."

"I figured. Thought I'd ask anyway." Rory stood. "You're right. He's not worth getting angry over. Thank you, 76."

"No problem, kid. Good luck out there."

"You too," Rory said, walking away from the man.

Soldier waited until he turned the corner and moved his hands to the sides of his visor, removing the mask. It moved to reveal an old, weary face, marred with scars. Sad eyes looked towards the end of the alley as he sighed. "I'm sorry, son…"

* * *

And there's chapter four! Heck yeah, guys! Seriously, I'm loving this story! And all of you are so nice!

Okay, so I got a comment just yesterday from a guest asking when my next update would be, so I'm gonna reiterate this quick: I have no set schedule. I'll update when chapters are ready to be posted. Until then, I'm gonna be balancing homework, family, writing, and playing video games :P. So I'm sorry the updates will be so sporadic, but it's kinda out of my control (unless I'm playing video games instead of writing, then it is lol).

I had a lot of fun writing this one. It's more of a filler chapter, besides Rory deciding to help Winston and Tracer and him finding out who his dad is.

I guess now he really is Dad 76, huh?

Obviously there were heavy implications of it littered throughout the chapter, and a couple hints at it in the last one, but tell me if you saw it coming before this chapter in the reviews! And no that's not a plug to be like GIVE ME REVIEWS! I'm genuinely curious as to how obvious I made it, cause that means I can improve on it for plot twists I have in mind for this story and others haha.

Anyway, that's enough talking for now :p. Have a good one, everybody!


	5. Chapter 5

I'm back again with another chapter of His Shadow! And guess what? WE FINALLY GET THE MUSEUM SCENE! Heck yeah! I've got quite a few ideas for this chapter and the following few, so I'm excited! It's also a much longer chapter than usual because I was so desperate to fit the museum scene and all my ideas for it in here!

As always, thank you to all of you who review and who follow and favorite! I really can't make it clear just how much I appreciate every single one of you guys.

Guys, we finally know Sombra's real name! We have the Overwatch comic "Searching" which is the aftermath of Talon's attack on Volskaya Industries. Katya has sent Zarya to track down Sombra, and it shows Zarya having to choke down her pride and get the help of an Omnic, and at the end Zarya says a name: Olivia Colomar. Now, nobody at Blizzard has confirmed that that is Sombra's name, but I find it pretty damning. And on top of that, Moira has been introduced!

Before we begin, my laptop crapped out, so I had to write this chapter on Google Docs and copy and paste the chapter over, so anything that I italicized got unitalicized and unbolded, so I might miss some stuff while editing and going through to fix it. All thoughts, Spanish, and any talk over comms, beside the people present, should be italicized.

Onto the story!

* * *

Rory entered the house, seeing Alex sitting by the fire with a steaming mug of hot cocoa. He gently took the mug from her hands, sitting beside her and pulling her into a tight embrace.

"Thank you for telling me about Jack, Al. I'm glad that I know." He held her tightly as she sighed shakily.

"I'm sorry that he did that to you and your mother."

"It was his loss. He lost two amazing women and a badass son," he said, imitating cockiness.

Alex chuckled. "He sure did."

The two laughed and joked around for a few hours, watching the news. Rory checked the clock and sighed. He had an hour before Tracer and Winston would arrive.

"I should likely head out. Be ready when they get here, you know."

"Be careful," Alex said, her voice shaking slightly. "You and Ali are both coming back."

"I promise, I'll come back, and I'll bring Ali with me."

Rory got up and checked his bag: pistol—check, first aid kit—check, dagger—check (he'd gone to restaurant many years ago with his mother: Medieval Times. They'd sold real metal daggers and she bought him one with the figurehead of a wolf on the hilt. He never thought there'd be a time he'd use it as a weapon), backup hoodie—check. He grabbed his baseball bat and hugged Alex. "See you soon, Al."

"Good luck, Rory," she said, choking slightly. "I love you."

"Thank you, I love you, too." He rubbed her back before letting go and turning to the door.

As it closed, Alex closed her eyes and choked down a sob. Her hand went to the necklace around her neck, a cross. " _Dios mío, protege mi sobrino por favor._ "

 **-Line Break-**

Tracer landed the dropship softly, Winston chuckling from behind her. "Just as skilled as always, Lena."

She giggled. "Thanks, big guy."

The ramp lowered and Rory entered the ship. He looked to see a large ape in white armor—Winston he assumed—a large man with shaggy white hair and a matching beard. He had scars all over his arms and had a large scar over his eye—Reinhardt Wilhelm, he remembered—a pretty, young woman with blonde hair that was tied up but her bangs fell gracefully around her face—Angela Ziegler, he remembered as well—and Tracer.

The Brit blinked over to him and wrapped him in a hug. "Hi, Rory! Thanks for coming!"

"I couldn't stay away, not with Alejandra in danger."

"Your sister?" Rory looked to see Mercy looking at him questioningly.

"Cousin, actually. You're Dr. Angela Ziegler, right?"

"The one and only," she said, smiling.

"It's an honor to meet you, ma'am."

Mercy chuckled. "You didn't mention he was so respectful, Lena."

"I try," he said, chuckling.

Winston came over and greeted him. "Hello, Mr. Carson. Thank you for coming on such short notice. We're short-handed, as you can see."

"It's my pleasure to be working alongside all of you," he said, looking around at the four heroes.

Reinhardt roared with laughter and walked over, slamming his hand onto Rory's shoulder. "It's a pleasure to fight alongside you as vell, my young friend!"

Rory tried not to wince as the man's hand slammed onto his shoulder. "Thanks, Sir Wilhelm."

He chortled. "It's just Reinhardt to my comrades, Mr. Carson."

"Then, in that case, it's Rory to you guys."

"Very well, Rory," Mercy said, rising from her seat. "Then I insist you call me Angela when in casual conversation, but I am still your doctor when we're working. Either Mercy while in the field or Dr. Ziegler while in the medical bay."

"Understood, Angela," Rory said, giving her a slight nod. "Now, we should be on our way."

They all got strapped in, Tracer in the pilot's seat and Angela in the copilot seat.

When they were up in the air, Reinhardt looked at Rory's bat and raised an eyebrow. "Is zat ze only weapon you brought?"

"I have an auto pistol with pulse rounds and a dagger, but that's it."

"Vell that simply von't do!" The German stood and went to a locker, opening it and grabbing a back-strap for his bat, a calf scabbard for his dagger, and a hip holster for his pistol. "You'll need zese, you can't just hide zem in your pockets!"

He then opened another one and pulled out a red mask with just white lenses where the eyes would be. "You must vear zis and disguise your identity, and it should disguise your voice as vell!"

He tossed it to Rory who caught it and examined it, comparing it to the mask of an old comic character called Red Hood. It was a red mask/helmet with two holes with solid white lenses. "Why do I have to disguise myself?"

Angela was the one who spoke up: "It's more for bodily protection than identity protection. Besides, if someone recognizes you, you could be compromised and your cousin could be in danger."

Rory thought about that and nodded. "That makes sense." He put on the mask and pulled up his hood. He looked in a mirror of a locker and smirked behind the mask. "I look pretty badass, if I do say so myself." He attached the holster and pulled his hoodie over it then pulled on the strap for his bat.

He looked at the scabbard for his dagger and frowned. "Any scabbards or holsters that are less conspicuous?"

The German thought for a moment and went to another locker. He opened it and found an old belt of Genji's. He handed it to Rory who looped it through his black cargo pants, replacing the scabbard already attached with the wolf scabbard and dagger.

He moved to the back of the plane and whipped out the dagger, acting as if he was being attacked. He went slowly, but his movements were clumsy. As he sped up, he began to lose control slightly and the blade flew out of his hand, stabbing into one of the seats on the jet.

Rory winced and looked apologetically at Winston. "My bad…"

"Oh it's alright, just try to be careful with that thing during the mission. We'll have Genji work with you when he arrives in Gibraltar."

"Wait, what?"

Winston looked at him confusedly before realizing what he'd said. "Oh, my apologies. I didn't mean to assume—"

"Are you offering for me to join Overwatch?" Rory asked, his voice failing to hide both the apprehensiveness and the excitement he felt.

"We'll talk about that after the mission," Angela interjected." For now, we should start getting you ready to fight Widowmaker and Reaper."

Reinhardt went to the middle of the room and got in a boxer stance. "You look like a strong lad," he said, cracking his neck. "For now, we'll start with some moves that rely on that strength. You may be able to overpower Widowmaker."

"Wait, what?" Rory said, getting caught by surprise as Reinhardt ran at him.

-Line Break-

By the time the group arrived in Numbani, Rory had thrown off his mask and hoodie to utilize the fact he was smaller than the former Crusader. Winston had been observing him closely and watching his fighting style, while Reinhardt corrected him on mistakes he made. Angela made sure Reinhardt didn't bang him up too badly.

He went against the wall and bent down, his breathing ragged. "How the…" He took a deep breath and sighed deeply. "How the hell do you expect me to beat you?"

"In ze same vay ve expect you to fight Vidowmaker and Reaper!" Reinhardt declared. "You must be ready to fight zem!"

"Speaking of Widowmaker and Reaper," Tracer interrupted, "they're sitting on the roof of the Museum."

Rory sighed, grabbing his hoodie and pulling it on again. "Scouting out the security I'd assume."

"Of which there is none," Tracer said. "Why the bloody hell do we have Doomfist's gauntlet in there with no protection?"

Rory looked at the footage displayed in front of them and saw as the Talon agents stood from their position, Widowmaker grappling to the next roof while Reaper teleported over.

"Wait, wait, wait… Reaper can teleport?"

"And he can become intangible so he doesn't take damage," Angela added, grimacing. "Thanks to Moira."

"Who -ra?"

"Save the cheering for after the mission," Tracer said, laughing at her own joke.

Rory rolled his eyes. "Who's Moira?"

"That's a story for another time," Winston said. "Right now, we need to devise a plan for stopping those two."

"Right, right. Sorry." Rory grabbed his mask and pulled it over his face, switching on the voice modulator. His hood went up and he slung his bat over his back and holstered his pistol and dagger. "You know," he said, surprised by the sound of his voice, "you said the weapons I have wouldn't do, and then you just gave me some gear. Anything else I can use to fight?"

Tracer thought for a moment before blinking over to a locker and opening it. She reached inside and grabbed a strange looking gun out of it. It reminded him of the gun Heatwave—a DC Anti-hero—used, but without the cords wrapping around it.

"This belonged to one of our old agents, one who was killed by Doomfist before we stopped him. If you want to, you can use it."

"What does it do?"

"It's like a flamethrower," Winston told him. "I designed it. It's powered the same way as a usual flamethrower, only the cylinders with the propellant gas—in this case, nitrogen—and the fluid are miniaturized and also made much more efficient."

Rory took it from Tracer and looked it over. "Looks easy enough to use."

"It is," Winston confirmed. "Which is both good and bad. Good because you can use it now, bad because anyone can use it. If it got into the wrong hands, there'd be hell to pay."

Rory nodded and caught another holster for the flamethrower. "Anything I can use for range?"

"Just press the button on the side and it'll shoot fireballs, size depending on how long you hold the trigger."

"I was thinking more of an A.P.R.?" (Automatic-pulse-rifle)

Winston nodded and smiled, walking to the wall of the ship and pulling a lever. The wall split down the middle and moved to the sides, showing a whole arsenal of weapons. M249s, AKMs, M16s, and so much more, plus every one of them modified to use pulse rounds.

Rory's eyes scanned the weapons, recognizing some of them from weapons used in the Omnic Crisis. His eyes went to one particular APR that he recognized from an old game Sombra had found a copy of.

"A SCAR-L, right?" he asked, grabbing it from the wall.

"That's right. A pretty good rifle, in my opinion."

"It'll be perfect for you," Tracer said brightly. She turned to the other heroes. "A natural marksman, this guy. Nailed Widowmaker in the back twice."

Rory made a face behind his mask, but he wasn't about to admit to them that he'd been aiming for her leg when he'd fired. "Uh, thanks…"

Reinhardt clapped him on the back. "Zen you'll do fine out zere!"

"Well, first, we'll need a plan," Mercy said, giving Reinhardt a look.

Tracer rolled her eyes. "Because things will actually go according to our plans…"

Rory chuckled. "An old tv show about these DC heroes had a guy who had a saying: 'Make the plan, execute the plan, expect the plan to go off the rails, throw away the plan.'"

"That's horrible advice," Mercy said, almost laughing.

"But It's true," Rory said.

"Nevertheless," Winston interjected, "we're going to come up with a plan. Athena, how many people are in the section of the museum with the Doomfist exhibit?"

"Scanning…" A pause. "Infrared scanners show 35 heat signatures near the Doomfist exhibit, including at least 15 children."

"And two of them are my cousin and her friend."

"Hmm… I hate to put the people in danger, but the sooner and more surprising our attack is, the better."

Everyone voiced their agreement.

Athena's voice came through the speakers again. "Agents, the Talon Agents have communication earpieces. I can't determine where they are patched through to."

"So Widow and Reaps aren't alone," Rory said.

"Verdammt!" Mercy hissed out, making Rory jump. She gave him an apologetic look before scowling again. "There's no doubt in my mind that Moira is here. And probably that 'Sombra' character."

Rory faltered for a moment, something he hoped none of the agents noticed. ' _Sombra could be here…_ ' He spoke up, albeit hesitantly, as he was the new one. "I think Winston and Tracer should go after Widow. Meanwhile I can hack into their comms and try to locate Moira and Sombra."

"You can hack?" Tracer asked.

"Yeah, an old friend taught me a few years back."

"That's useful," Mercy said. "But What about after you find them?"

"You, Reinhardt, and I will give 'em hell."

"So that training for fighting Widow and Reaper was pointless?" Mercy asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Not if Winston and Tracer need backup. Plus, if I've been training to beat Reaper and Widow, why wouldn't I be able to beat Moira and this Sombra person?"

Mercy thought for a moment before nodding. "That's actually not a bad idea."

Reinhardt, Winston, and Tracer all voices an agreement. "Then let's get to it, big guy!" Tracer said brightly, punching Winston lightly. The dropship opened up and the two ran off, coming up with a plan to surprise the two Talon agents.

Meanwhile, Rory sat in the chair at the computer and had Athena connect to the Talon agents' comms. 'Using Sombra's teachings to find her. Heh. Not something I thought I'd ever end up doing.'

 **-Line Break-**

Sombra leaned back in her chair boredly. "You two done scouting yet?"

" _No, Sombra, we aren't,_ " Reaper replied impatiently.

" _¡Ay!_ What's taking so long?"

" _We need to be 100% sure there's no way we'll get caught._ "

"I already told you there won't be any security."

"Sombra, will you shut up?" Moira asked, waving her witch-nails. "There's no reason you can't be more patient."

Sombra sneered at her. "The longer we sit around, the more the chance we'll get caught."

" _We need to take our time, chérie,_ " Widow interjected.

" _Dios mío._ "

" _Sombra, honestly—_ " Reyes was cut off by a loud grunt and a sort of… electronic whoosh. " _Oh, dammit!_ "

"What?" Moira demanded. "What is it?"

" _The monkey and his time traveling toy!_ "

"What?" Moira exclaimed. "How?"

Sombra felt fortunate her back was to the scientist so that she couldn't see the relief in her eyes. ' _They got the message._ '

"That doesn't matter right now!"

Suddenly an alarm went off in the ship. "What is that wretched noise for?!" Moira shouted over the noise.

Sombra pressed a few buttons and the alarm shut off, and the screen displayed an alert: "INTERFERENCE LOCATED. ATTEMPT TO SHUT DOWN FAILED. BREACH IMMINENT. BEST COURSE OF ACTION: SHUT OFF COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS."

"Someone's trying to hack into our comms and trace our location," Sombra said.

" _Then shut off comms, we'll contact when we get the job done._ "

"Okay. Good luck."

" _We don't need luck._ "

Sombra smirked as she pressed another button, shutting off the comms. However she sobered when she saw three blips on the radar.

"Damn it! They already found us!"

The hacker got a sick feeling in her stomach. No one had ever been able to trace comms that quickly, only her. And she's only shown one other person how to do that that quickly…

' _Please don't let it be him…_ '

But she knew deep down, if he'd been helping Tracer against Widow in King's Row, there's no way he'd stay away from this. He was a hero. It was in his blood.

Yes, she knew who his father was. What kind of man his father had been. Who he was now.

"Sombra!"

The hacker snapped back to reality with a jolt as Moira shouted her name. "Get ready, we'll need to get out there and fight."

Sombra nodded and pulled her machine pistol out, loading it with a pulse magazine. "Let's kick some Overass."

 **-Line Break-**

"Radar says they should be this way," Rory said to the former Crusader and the doctor.

"Are we going to have a plan here?" asked the doctor. "We can't just go in there, guns blazing and hammer swinging."

"'Make the plan, execute the plan, expect the plan to go off the rails, throw away the plan,'" he reminded her cheekily. But her look shut him up quickly and he sobered. "Right. Well, this Sombra is a good enough hacker to have caught the eyes of an international terrorist organization, so there's no doubt in my mind that she knows we're here. We should probably go in shield first." He eyes her staff and raised an eyebrow, even though she couldn't see that. "What does that thing do exactly?"

"A flip of a switch programs nanites to stream into a person's bloodstream, eventually heading to either their immune system to heal them or into their endocrine system and increase their adrenaline. (A/N: As far as I know, that's not actually how her staff works, but it's the best I could come up with. Also this next part is a bunch of bullcrap) Usually nanites would have to remain in a person to continue to heal someone, but an old colleague of mine and I figured out how to get them to bond with human cells and eventually become cells themselves."

"That's… ingenious…" he said in disbelief. "Who was this 'colleague'?"

"Moira…"

"Oh…" Rory got the feeling he'd struck a bad chord. "Um, anyway… What can Moira do?"

"If she perfected the things she was working on, she should be able to both use nanites to heal and to drain people from their immune system. She created Reaper by giving him the ability to drain life from his victims as he wounds them."

"Whoa…"

"It's like something out of a horror movie…" Angela said with disgust in her voice.

"I don't mean to be rude," Reinhardt interrupted, "but ze plan?"

Rory nodded. "Right, right. Your shield should block any damage either way. So, as I said, he goes first, I'll push in next, clearing the room with my SCAR. Mercy, hang back and be ready to heal or boost if they go aggressive."

Suddenly, Tracer's voice sounded over the comms: " _You guys wanna hurry it up? We could use some backup! We're only just barely keeping them from entering the museum!_ "

Rory sighed. "We were just about to enter the Talon dropship."

"You're only just getting to the dropship?!"

Rory rolled his eyes and stepped away to argue with the Brit for a few moments and reassure her.

Reinhardt gave Mercy a look and whispered to her, "Are ve sure ve vant ze new one calling our shots?"

"I didn't hear you give any better ideas," she replied with a small smirk.

"Vell, I vas just—" he spluttered.

"I'm just joking, Reinhardt. And while I agree it's kind of risky to rely on the least experienced one, and likely foolish even, we have to let him lead if he's going to be a part of what we do in Overwatch."

Reinhardt sighed. "I know, Angela. But he's so young."

"No younger than you were during your time as a Crusader and in Overwatch."

"He has already lost so much, if vhat Tracer tells us is true. And he's going to lose much, much more… Just as we all did. Jack, Gabriel, Liao, Gérard, Amélie… Ana…"

Mercy smiled sympathetically. "Reinhardt—"

"Zis isn't about me, Angela," he said, smiling reassuringly. "Ze child doesn't know vhat he'd be getting into…"

Before she could respond, Rory walked back over, SCAR in-hand. "You ready?" she asked him.

"As I'll ever be…" He made sure the rifle was loaded properly and that his safety was off. He looked up at Reinhardt and nodded.

The Crusader hit the door of the ship, denting it heavily but not opening it yet.

Rory smirked and gave Mercy a look before shouting, "Housekeeping!" As expected, no one answered. Reinhardt swung at the door again and it blasted off its hinges. "We come in anyway!"

Reinhardt put up his shield and Rory followed closely behind, ready to fire if need be. No one was in the main area of the ship, as far as he could see.

"Oh, duh!" Rory looked over to see Mercy facepalm. "Your mask is equipped with infrasight! I completely forgot!"

In the far corner of the room, Sombra's eyes widened. She didn't know if her Thermoptic Camo could stand up to infrasight. It didn't work against Widow's, so it was more than likely it wouldn't work against this man's sight either. And she didn't have time to get out of the ship.

"The switch on the side of the mask will turn it on."

The hacker watched as the man lifted his hand and turned on his infrasight.

Rory looked around the ship and saw a heat signature hidden in a corner. He raised his rifle in the direction of the person and lowered his voice, the modulator making it even more unrecognizable. "In the corner… Show yourself!" he shouted.

The hacker grimaced. "Damn…" She threw a smirk on her face as her camo was removed, revealing her to be standing there with her hands in the air.

Rory recognized her immediately, despite the new haircut, the new eyes, and all the tech. "This that Moira character?" he asked to throw all three off, thankful for the aforementioned voice modulator.

"No, that's not Moira. It must be Sombra."

"Hm. Well, 'Sombra,' Where's your doctor friend?"

"She went off to get the gauntlet," she said with a smirk, hoping they'd buy her bluff and wouldn't see past the smirk.

Nevertheless, Rory knew. He'd known her better than anyone before she left, and she hadn't changed a bit.

Well, besides all the electronics…

"You're lying… She's here somewhere. I don't know how she's hiding from my infrasight, but she's here."

"You sure you want to risk it, _amigo_?"

"Not a risk, _amiga_. I know she's here."

Mercy had a nervous look on her face. "How can you be sure?"

Rory didn't turn to look at her. "Her eyes."

"Aw, thanks. I'm sure you've got some nice eyes behind that mask of yours."

"Not talking about the color. I see the nervousness in them. She's here."

The hacker rolled her eyes. "Alright. Now or never, _amiga_."

She disappeared across the room and brought up a holodisplay, hacking Reinhardt and disabling his shield.

Moira bursted out of a locker and send a large purple orb towards the three, and Rory felt something draining from him, and began to feel nauseous. By the time the orb had diminished, he was on his hands and knees with Reinhardt kneeling in front of him.

Angela switched her staff to "heal" and healed the both of them, her suit already injecting nanites into her bloodstream. She glared at the Irish woman who'd drained them.

"Moira."

The scientist smirked. "Angela. Long time, no see, old friend."

"Not long enough," Mercy growled, whipping out her pistol.

Rory looked at her in shock, as he'd always heard she was the most peaceful in Overwatch. Reinhardt looked surprised as well, furthering Rory's suspicions of a deeper past between Moira and Angela.

Sombra raised her pistol and began a hack, but Moira stopped her, looking unafraid. "Feisty, feisty, Angela. But we both know you won't pull the trigger."

Angela had a steel in her eyes that made Rory unsure on if what Moira had said was true; however, the doctor eventually lowered her pistol.

Rory looked up at the scientist, his glare hidden beneath the mask. "Maybe she won't," he began, standing shakily, "but I will." He raised his pistol and aimed at Moira's head.

The scientist and hacker looked at him, both with a noticeable nervousness, before Moira shook it off and laughed. "And who are you supposed to be?"

"The guy who's gonna blow your brains out if you don't stand down and come quietly."

Sombra smirked. "Your hands are shaking. You've never shot a person in your life. At least, not to kill."

"No time like the present."Moira only laughed at him.

Moira just laughed at him. "Sure, kiddo."

"How'd you hide from infrared?"

"I'm a 'mad scientist,' of course I'd use my work to give myself abilities like that. Tree frogs can regulate their body temperature."

"So you're part tree frog?"

"I am. Wanna see what tricks my tongue can do?" she asked with a wink.

Rory scoffed. "Excuse me while I throw up."

"You wanna tell us who you are?" Sombra asked impatiently. "We know Angie and Rein, but we don't know who you are."

"I've seen that mask before," Moira began, "but the wearer died in the med bay at the base in Switzerland."

"I'm the new guy."

"But what's your name, 'New Guy'?" Sombra asked with a glare.

"Don't got one."

"Not your code name, idiot. Real name."

Rory stared at her, his pistol still aimed at Moira, before sighing. He lowered the gun and holstered it, raising his hands to his mask.

Just as he gripped the mask, he heard voices in his comm. " _Guys, we could use a bit of help!_ "

Rory removed his hands from the mask's releases and moved to the comm switch. "What's going on, Tracer?"

"No!" Rory looked to see Moira attempt to tackle him, but Reinhardt grabbed her and pinned her against a wall with his arm.

"Continue, Miss Oxton," he said unto the comms, glaring at Sombra.

" _Reaper and Widow are pushing us to the museum! We need someone to clear it out!_ "

Rory's eyes widened as he turned and bolted towards the museum, ignoring Mercy's cries of protest.

Reinhardt continued to glare at Sombra. "A man whose family has been threatened by terrorists will not give up until those people are brought down."

"As far as I know, we haven't threatened his family," the hacker said with a raised brow.

"His cousin is in that museum. Once she's safe, he'll go after all of you, one by one."

Sombra tried not to let her eyes widen. ' _Oh, god… If he's Rory… Alejandra…_ ' For the umphteenth time that day, she thought to herself, ' _Please don't let it be Rory…_ '

 **-Line Break-**

Ali laughed as Rosa made a joke about a boy who'd been ignoring his younger brother the whole time they'd been in the museum.

"'Gawd… My little brother is such a nuisance. I just wanna be in my room, listening to my punk rock metal screamo.'"

Ali doubled over in laughter as the two watched the younger boy's amazement and the older boy's annoyance.

The younger boy gawked at Doomfist's gauntlet and ran up to his brother, acting out the battle between the man and the ape known as Winston. "'PRIMAL PUUUUUNCH!"

As the older brother made a snarky comment, a man in a red mask and black hoodie ran into the room and shouted, "EVERYONE, OUT! NOW!" in a strangely deep and robotic voice.

No one moved a muscle.

He looked around in annoyance. "THIS ISN'T A JOKE! GET OUT! TALON IS HERE!"

The younger brother ran up to the man. "Oooh! Is this a re-enactment of a battle?!"

"No, I'm not joking around, kid. You gotta get your brother and everyone else outta here."

The older boy rolled his eyes. "Cut the crap, dude. Everyone knows Overwatch was shut down. Half of 'em are just mercenaries now."

The older boy walked away as the younger one looked up at the man in sadness before looking at his brother and shooting imaginary wrist rockets at him.

As if on cue, the ground began to shake.

Rory looked to where Ali and Rosa were, pushing the boy's near them and shouting, "GET DOOOOWWWWWN!"

Winston suddenly came crashing through the glass roof, Widowmaker grappling off of him and to a ledge, pulling out her rifle.

Winston winced as the sniper's shots hit his armor. He noticed the four children and the man in the mask, he moved to block the shots from them.

He laughed and fixed his glasses. "Enjoying the exhibit?" He winced and growled as another shot hit him. "Alright, play time's over," he said, shooing the four away. "Get to cover!"

The girls grabbed the boys' hands and ran off behind a short wall. "C'mon, move it!" Ali shouted.

Winston nodded at Rory and began to run towards Widow as Rory pulled out his SCAR, aiming at the blue woman.

A strange, wraith-like man began to form next to Winston, and Rory gave the gorilla a questioning look. "Reaper?"

"Yep."

The mercenary pulled out two shotguns and began firing on Winston.

Rory debated on who to aim at, but Widow has been looking towards the gauntlet, so he began to take aim at her. That is, until he saw a flash of blue light and knew the time jumping Brit had it covered.

He aimed at Reaper and began to fire, hitting him in the back, but not damaging him brought the armor and leather. He and Winston began to force him back, before Winston jumped, attempting to crush both Talon agents.

Winston began to be under heavy fire while Tracer and Rory took cover. Tracer shouted the gorilla's name and blinked into his hand, allowing herself to be whipped towards the Talon agents.

Tracer fires at both of the agents, Rory pulling out his flamethrower and getting close to Reaper, attempting to cook the man, but he only ended up filling the air with the scent of burned leather and getting dangerously close to having a limb blown off.

"Die!" The wraith said venomously, firing a shot at each agent. Suddenly he dropped the shotguns and growled, "Yeeesss…" He began to have smoke wisp around him, spinning in a circle and firing off shots in all directions,

Winston turned and covered his face with his armored arms, but Tracer took a bullet to her Chronal Accelerator. A panicked look came to her face as she heard the alarm go offend dove behind cover. She sighed in annoyance as the Accelerator tried to reset.

She looked to her left to see all the kids, looking at her in fear and anticipation. "Uhhh… don't worry, loves. Cavalry's here," she said with a barely reassuring smile, but the youngest boy had a huge smile on his face.

Rory had gotten behind cover across from them and waited for the firing to cease. He took aim at Reaper as he advanced toward the fallen monkey, but found out that he had to reload when he pulled the trigger. He rushed to pull out a magazine and reload the gun, but he feared he wouldn't reload in time to stop Reaper.

He looked to see Widow advancing toward the gauntlet, but he knew saving Winston would come before stopping Widow.

Luckily for him, Reaper paused to step on Winston's glasses, sending the scientist into a rage. He attacked Reaper just as Rory got his gun reloaded and Tracer's Accelerator reset.

Widow had gotten distracted by the monkey's attack, and both she and Rory looked to see the gauntlet missing. Rory looked around and saw the older it from earlier hiding behind the case, clutching the gauntlet tightly.

Rory looked at Widow as she slowly went around the case, wincing as the little boy shouted, "Watch out!" to his older sibling.

Widow looked towards the kids' hiding spot and Rory lined up a shot, but realized he hadn't needed to as the older boy shouted to get Widow's attention and slammed the gauntlet into her gut sending out a shockwave that sent all three of them off their feet.

Widow stood quickly and took aim at the boy, but Rory fired a shot, missing by a mile but getting her attention away from the boy. "What's wrong, Blue? Don't have the guts to shot at someone who can shoot back?"

She lined up a shot, but Winston jumped in front of her and tried to crush her, but she flipped away from him and fired a grappling hook up to the roof, Reaper grabbing onto her as she ascended.

Winston instantly jumped after them, but Tracer and Rory stayed back for a few moments. The earlier looked down as the older boy held up Doomfist's gauntlet to the agents, the other three kids crowding around him. All of them winced as the gauntlet seemed to fall apart in his hands.

Tracer laughed as she took the gauntlet from him, looking to Rory and smiling.

Rory smiled beneath his mask and told the kids, "You guys were brave and smart out there. You stayed calm during this and protected each other. Like real heroes."

"And the world could always use more of those," Tracer said, saluting at the kids and blinking over to the gauntlet's case, placing it inside it again, and blinking up to the roof.

Rory laughed. "I don't have cool powers like those two," he said jokingly, running out the door and switching on his comms again.

" _Rory, you there?_ " he heard Mercy ask.

"Yeah, what's up?"

" _Sombra and Moira got away, presumably to meet up with Reaper and Widow. Do you have their location?_ "

He was about to reply before Tracer cut him off. " _Winston and I lost them. Sorry, loves._ "

" _It's alright,_ " Reinhardt said comfortingly. " _Ve stopped zem from getting ze gauntlet and made sure no one vas hurt in ze process. Zat's a vin in my book._ "

Rory laughed. "True shit, Reinhardt. True shit."

" _Language,_ " Mercy scolded.

Rory laughed again. "I'll meet you guys at the dropship."

Before they could reply, he heard a sharp _TWING!_ and a _THWINK!_ He looked down to his flamethrower holster and saw a dart with a rapidly blinking red light.

His eyes widened as he tried to rip it from its holster and throw it away, but the explosion knocked him back into a wall. He consciously felt the pain of shrapnel burying itself into his flesh and the chemicals to ignite the flames seeping into his body.

As he lost consciousness, he saw a girl running over, hearing only her muffled screams of "RORY!" and a sharp ringing in his ears.

* * *

And that's chapter five! Hahahaha, I'm so evil, aren't I? A huge break from updating, only to leave you guys with a heavy cliffhanger!

A happy late Christmas and New Year to all of you! Thank you again for your continued support!

See you next time!


	6. Chapter 55 AN

Hey, everybody! It's Ravenclaw'sHeir2020, only I changed my username. Sorry it's been so long, but school's been super overbearing. Plus some personal matters got in the way.

I'm disappointed to say this is not a new chapter, even after the wait. I want to ask your opinion on something: with the addition of Brigitte to the roster, I have to say I feel like I should add her to the mission in the last chapter, seeing as she's always with Reinhardt, or if you thought I ought to keep that chapter the way it is and in the beginning of the chapter have her waiting at the Watchpoint? I reckon I could really make either way work, but I wanna know what you guys have to say about the matter.

Did I just say reckon…? No one where I'm from says reckon… Too many streamers and YouTubers…

ANYway, to apologize for not having a chapter ready for you guys, here's a few tidbits to tide you over:

"I have an idea, but… It's unorthodox at best…"

"Would it give him a chance?"

"More of a chance than if we try to wait it out… but it's still slim…"

…

"Proceed as planned. Your _failure_ will be dealt with later. The scientists and mechanics have been working on upgrades already, we will simply have to move our plans back to give them time to make a new gauntlet."

As the transmission ended, Sombra looked to Reaper. "What's our next move?"

"We get him out."

…

"My designs should be able to handle the—"

A bloodcurdling scream tore through the room as the young man began to thrash and writhe.

"What did you do?!" his aunt shouted, trying to get to her nephew despite Tracer holding her back.

"The chemicals are doing their job," the doctor explained quickly as Reinhardt held to boy down while she injected him with a sedative. His thrashing slowly ceased and everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief. "The next couple hours will be crucial in determining—"

Suddenly, Rory erupted in flames and continued his screaming, even louder than before, arching his back in agony.

…

There's your sneak peak! Hopefully that'll be up sooner rather than later, but I make no promises. See ya!


End file.
